


Where There's Life, There's Hope.

by Saltandburnboys



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-14
Updated: 2012-08-16
Packaged: 2017-11-12 04:23:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 50
Words: 114,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/486643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saltandburnboys/pseuds/Saltandburnboys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Up until Jensen’s sixteenth birthday, he had been a normal kid; worrying more about grades and his social life than the state of the world.  But then a man had walked into his life and changed all that and no matter how much Jensen had wanted to go back he couldn’t; that normal life didn’t belong to him anymore.  After everything had come crashing down around him, Jensen had tried to run but he should have known that the past wouldn’t stay dead and buried and he was once again forced to face up to who he really was and what he was destined to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One.

**Author's Note:**

> Clearly this is an AU story. I do not own any of the actors in this story, especially not Jared or Jensen, they all belong to themselves. Jared and Jensen are not in a relationship, have never been and have no desire to be in a relationship; they are both happily married and not to each other which is awesome for both of them. The story is based on ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ created by Joss Whedon, aired in 1997 by Mutant Enemy Productions and several of the storylines follow the lines of some of the episodes- see individual chapters for those warnings. I do not own any of the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ franchise. There are also ideas from the TV show ‘Supernatural,’ aired in 2005 and created by Eric Kripke and is now part of the CW network, in the story. I do not own Supernatural or any of its concepts or characters. No money was made from this story. This is a COMPLETED STORY.
> 
>  
> 
> Author’s note: Any words in italics are set in the past. The story is written from multiple points of view.

  
** Chapter One. **

No no no, this was not the way this was supposed to go. This was meant to be a fresh start; a new school; a new life. Hadn't he given enough already? Jensen was seventeen years old, for God's sake, he just wanted to rest, be normal. He wanted to have friends and, if he was really honest, he...he didn't want to die. Jensen had accepted his duty a year ago, when he had been told that it was his destiny; he just hadn’t realised how much it would cost him trying to fulfil it. 

_Jensen landed a perfect triple axel, finishing his routine; yeah, neither Justin nor Colin could hold a candle to him out here on the ice. This was his kingdom. Here, he felt like a God. Off the ice, it was a different story; he’d never really fit in; he had friends but not too many and his sister was the shining light of his family. Jensen just could never seem to measure up, he was never good enough; he was kind of smart, getting pretty good grades and, if he believed what people said about him, he was kind of pretty, but, well, he just didn't feel it._

_A cough brought him out his maudlin reverie._

_'Jensen Ackles?' An older man was sitting in the stands watching him._

_'Uh, yeah, can I help you?' Jensen replied; the guy looked harmless enough._

_'Yes, I’ve been looking for you for a very long time.' Oookkayy, maybe not so harmless then. Jensen got off the ice immediately and awkwardly walked to one of the seats to try and get his boots off. He was a fast runner and, as soon as he got his skates off, he could be out of there and away from this wierdo._

_'Alright, what do you want with me?' Jensen asked, stalling for time as he yanked his first boot off, leaving half the laces still tied, and went to work on the laces of his second one._

_'I'm here to help you fulfil your destiny.'_ Right _._

_'Sorry, dude, but I don't know what I'm doing next week, let alone what my 'destiny' is. Thanks for the offer but I’m gonna have to pass on that.' God, the perv was old enough to be his father and Jensen really didn't want to spend a moment longer in the guy's company or he was pretty sure he was going to end up in the back of this guy's truck._

_Jensen, finally, pulled his second skate off and dashed passed the guy. The man caught him by the arm in a surprisingly strong grip for someone his age._

_'How are the nightmares, Jensen?' Jensen just stared at him for a moment, then tore his arm away. How the fuck did the man know about his nightmares? He hadn’t told anyone about them._

_He was fighting, always fighting, trying to save everyone, but the monsters…they just kept coming until he was overwhelmed and beaten._

_He'd been having them on and off since he was twelve, but they’d been coming more and more often lately, and they scared the shit out of him. Jensen ran off to the bus stop, not looking back at the man he had left at the rink._

_****_

_Two days later, the strange man turned up at his school after his last class finished._

_'Oh, Hell no.' Jensen turned on his heel and walked back down the school corridor in the other direction._

_'Jensen, wait, just let me show you. I promise you, once you've seen it you'll be ready to listen. Meet me at the graveyard at eight o’clock tonight and I'll show you everything.' And he just walked off; he just walked off as if he hadn’t just said the weirdest thing to Jensen ever._

_****_

_Jensen didn't know what made him go, when he’d left school he’d been determined to go straight home and lock all the doors. But when seven o’clock rolled around, he began to feel restless, and five minutes later, Jensen found himself jumping out of his window and heading to the graveyard._

_When he arrived, the man was there, leaning against a gravestone._

_Jensen crossed his arms defiantly, ‘So what am I here to see? And, I swear to God, if you flash me, I will floor you right here.’_

_The man merely smirked at him, 'I’m sure you would. Just wait, Jensen, it shouldn't be too long now. Why don't you sit over on that gravestone there? You'll be more comfortable.' Jensen had a fleeting thought that the words ‘gravestone’ and ‘comfortable’ should really never be used in the same sentence but he let it go._

_Jensen sat down on the headstone and took out his phone, flicking through his messages, and had just started to reply when he heard something move behind him. Noises in graveyards were never good; he’d seen enough horror movies to know that. Jensen turned around slowly and what he saw caused him to fall right off the gravestone and land hard on his ass. There was a hand rising out of the grave._

_As he watched, stunned, an arm, then a torso and finally a pair of legs emerged from the grave right in front of him. He pinched his arm…nothing, so not a dream then._

_'What the fuck?' The man, who had apparently just risen from the dead, lunged at Jensen. Jensen caught the wooden stick the older man threw at him, without so much as turning his head, and plunged it into the undead man's stomach. The man looked down and smiled and Jensen scrambled backwards. He caught a second stick from the old man watching him._

_'You might want to aim for the heart this time, son.' Jensen wanted to dispute the 'son' comment but instead let out an unmanly squeal when the undead guy dove at him again. He was bowled over and he found himself on his back, the stick pointed outwards from his chest and lodged in the undead man's chest. The shock on his own face was mirrored on that of the impaled man. Suddenly, the man exploded into dust, showering Jensen in ash. Jensen sneezed and jumped up, frantically wiping the ash off his clothes and face._

_'What the fuck!?'_

_****_

_Jensen had found out in that graveyard that all those things that went bump in the night were real and he was destined to fight them. He had rallied against it at first but Sterling Brown, the old man, told him that it was his destiny and if he didn’t fight then no one else would. He showed Jensen all the unexplained murders and missing person cases in his town and then went on to explain how they were all caused by the Supernatural and that Jensen was the only one who could stop it. No pressure there then._

_So, Jensen trained with his new 'Watcher', whatever the fuck that was about, every free moment he had. He pretty much lost his friends, his captaincy of the skating team and his relationship with his family seriously sucked ass as his grades started to drop since his Slaying sometimes called for him to skip a class or twelve. God, his mum had thought he was on drugs. Jensen hated it. He was sixteen, he really didn't need this. He got that he was helping people, saving lives, but he was losing everything that made him_ him _._

_The first time that Jensen got hurt, he finally understood all the hard work, all the long hours, all the criticism. He had been thrown hard against one of the headstones in the cemetery when he was on patrol. His vision had blacked out for a moment and when he had come back to himself he had felt the blood dripping steadily down his face from his forehead. Jensen had taken his eyes off the game, for only a moment, distracted making a snarky comment to the vampire he had been fighting, and then he had been on his back and his brain had felt like it was exploding inside his head. Jensen had never felt pain like it, and he had thanked God that Brown had been there or he would have been toast._

_Brown had taken him back to his apartment and stitched his head up and he had developed a new found respect for the man and his work and had trained harder than ever to make sure he didn't slip up again._

_Months passed, and he learnt to handle his strength and his moves became instinctual rather than planned. Jensen felt good, he felt like he did on the ice, at home in this new role. But then Prom happened._

_****_

_'Jensen, Jensen, Jensen.' The Master Vampire sing-songed at him. 'You really are the most talented Slayer I’ve ever met.'_

_Jensen had learnt the hard way not to listen to the idle talk of his enemies and blocked out the words. He mapped out where all the students and the remaining vampires were in the hall. He spun round, letting two bolts fly from his crossbow, destroying two more vampires, before turning back to the Master Vampire._

_He gasped when he realised the vampire was much closer than he’d expected; he could feel its breath on his cheek. Jensen looked into its eyes and the world stopped. He didn't even feel the stake fall from his hand._

_'That's it, my Slayer, give yourself to me and we will be perfect together. For eternity, Slayer, you will be mine.' Jensen didn't even flinch as the fangs moved towards his throat._

_'NO! JENSEN!' Brown leapt between them and pushed Jensen aside to the floor. Jensen watched, unable to move, as his Watcher and the vampire fought; there was a haze over his mind that he couldn't seem to break through. He knew that he needed to get up and help Brown but he couldn't bring himself to do it._

_Jensen heard Brown’s breath hitch and Jensen finally managed to tear his eyes away from the vampire and saw his stake buried in Brown's chest. That snapped him out of his trance and he leapt up and caught his falling Watcher._

_'Oh God, Brown, I'm so sorry, I fucked up. I…I didn't train enough, I'm not good enough, I…I've failed you.' Jensen held his Watcher in his arms, unable to stop the tears leaking from his eyes. Brown smiled up at him and wiped the tears from Jensen's cheek._

_'No, Jensen, you trained hard and your skills far exceeded what I ever expected of you. You are dedicated like no other; your need to save people surpasses that of anyone I’ve ever trained.' Jensen watched a trail of blood trickle down from the corner of Brown's mouth. 'Jensen you were the best, my favourite, you only fail if you give up; this here isn't failing, keep fighting, Jensen, make me proud.'_

_Jensen felt his watcher go lax in his arms and pulled the older man to his chest as he sobbed against his shoulder._

_'Jensen, come to me now, we can finally be together. Come to me.' Jensen laid Brown down gently on the floor and turned to the Master Vampire. He walked over and raised his head to look the vampire right in the eye. 'That's it, little one, look into my eyes and find your place.'_

_Jensen tilted his head. 'You know what, I'm thinking no.'_

_'What?' The surprise was thick in the vampire's voice._

_'What? That not happened before? Gotta say the whole eye mojo thing you’ve got going on is totally tired, dude.' He pulled his back-up stake from the back of his jeans. 'You know...' He leaned in close and whispered to the vampire, 'Forever's not looking so good for me right now.' Jensen plunged the stake deep into his enemy’s chest, 'But don’t worry, it's not you, it’s me.' He pushed the vampire away as it crumbled to dust._

_The smile on his face was dark; the victory felt hollow considering what it had cost him and no matter what Brown had told him, he’d failed his Watcher tonight and he would never forgive himself for that._

_'HELP!' Jensen turned back to the mass of students trying to run from the remaining vampires. He somersaulted across the dance floor, throwing his stake into the back of one of the vampires and tearing another off of a young girl's neck, a second later. He quickly dispatched another four vampires, and surveyed the damage._

_The other vampires looked at him for a moment, their eyes filled with a mixture of fear and awe, and then they ran from the dance hall. Dust layered the floor and there were bodies lying still in death._

_‘Who the hell_ are _you?’ A cheerleader, Jensen didn’t know her name, asked him in shock._

_‘I’m Jensen.’ He shrugged._

_Eyes flicking back to the bodies on the floor, Jensen’s heart stopped when he saw someone familiar; he ran over and dropped to his knees. It was his best friend, James; he saw bite marks deep in his friend's neck. Jensen bowed his head and let the tears fall for the second time that night, his hand resting lightly over the dead boy's heart._

_'God, I'm so sorry.' Then he felt movement under his palm. Oh no, please no, don’t make me do this. Jensen looked into his friend’s eyes and saw them flicker open and his mouth open on a growl, long fangs descending over his bottom lip. 'Oh James, please forgive me. I have to do this.' He reached for one of the used bolts from his crossbow lying close to them on the floor. Jensen plunged it into his friend's chest and watched the man’s expression change from predatory to surprised, and finally to betrayed before crumbling into dust. Jensen was unable to look away as the boy disintegrated in his arms, taking away the best friend Jensen had ever had. 'I'm sorry,' he whispered for what seemed like the hundredth time that night._

_Jensen stood up and headed for the door. He'd come back at dawn and clean up the rest of this, but right then he just needed to be alone without the reminders of all the ways he’d failed. Everyone parted in front of him, some looking at him in awe, some in fear, but all of them stared at him as he left the dance hall._

Jensen pushed the memories away and focused on the book lying on the desk before him. 'That…that's not what I'm looking for.' He said shakily.

'Are you sure? I was positive it was you.' 

'No, it's not…it’s not me.' Jensen said quickly and turned and ran out of the library, leaving the book with 'VAMPYR' embossed across the cover behind. That was definitely _not_ what he was looking for.  
  



	2. Chapter Two.

** Chapter Two. **

  
**Jensen.** 　

  
Jensen's first day was a total bust, in his opinion, he got hit on by one girl and two guys; one guy in the hall by his locker and the other guy behind the football shed after gym. He said no to all of them, _obviously_ , despite the aggressive posturing of the boy behind the shed who was so firmly in the closet that he would need a flashlight, a candle and a lantern to find his way out. 

Sunnydale High’s student body was clearly suffering from 'Bright, Shiny, New Syndrome’ where Jensen was concerned, clearly they hadn’t had a new kid transfer in a while. At least that’s all Jensen hoped it was; he really didn’t like to attract as much attention as he seemed to be doing at that moment. Jensen wasn't really one for cliques; he was different, always had been, even before he found out about his oh-so-special 'destiny.' 

Brown had told him that he couldn't tell anyone, that he couldn't put them at risk, but how could he have a friendship like that? Knowing that he could never tell them what might come after him? Or them? Jensen was done with all that anyway so he supposed it was a moot point now. He sighed as he stretched out on his bed and fell asleep to dreams of fangs and blood and death. 

****

The next day Jensen walked down the corridor ignoring the appraising glances he received. Geez, you'd think they'd never seen a damn new kid before. He stopped by his locker and grabbed the books he needed for his first two classes when he felt someone next to him. 

'Hey, Jensen.' Lauren Cohen purred in his ear. Jensen sighed, he'd already turned her down yesterday, he really didn’t want to have to do it again. 'Fancy coming over to mine to...study tonight? I could _really_ use your help, I’m totally flunking math.' Study. _Right_. 

'Um, Lauren I really can't, I have to look after my little sister tonight, my Mom's working late.' It wasn't a lie, not really, Jensen liked looking after his twelve year old sister knowing what was out there, it was just that he didn’t actually _need_ to be there since Mack had a babysitter till his Mum got home. Jensen didn't relish the idea of being mean so he smiled slightly at the girl and added, 'Maybe some other time.' Then he deftly stepped around her reaching arm and sped off to Spanish. 

On the way, Jensen was heard muffled groans coming from the boy's bathroom as he passed. He stopped and walked back, pushing the door open slightly. 

Jensen took in the scene before him; a dark haired boy was being held against the wall by two jocks whilst another pummelled him in the stomach. Jensen sighed, it was just another day in your average American high school as far as he was concerned. 

'What the Hell are you doing?' Jensen barked, even though he knew exactly what they were doing. There were bullies in every school, just because he'd always been too fast and too strong to get caught by any of them didn't mean he didn't know about them. And if there was one thing Jensen hated, _really_ hated, it was bullies; people who used their strength and height to hurt those who couldn’t fight back. 

'Hey, you're the new kid, Jensen right? You need to get of here.’ The jock punching the kid said, clearly unconcerned that Jensen had found him beating the crap out of another boy. That was his second big mistake of the day, the first - punching the poor kid at all.

‘Yeah, I'm down with that. So how about you put down that guy and he can walk out of here with me.’ Jensen replied, his voice steady.

'Nah, we don't think so.' _Crap_ , why did they always have to do this? 

_'Really_ , I think you should leave him alone.' _Please don’t make me force you._

'You really want in on this New Kid?' The largest of the bullies, the one not holding the poor kid to the wall, turned to him and rolled his sleeves up his arms, displaying his bulging forearms. Jensen barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

_Not really_. 'Yeah I do.' Compared to Jensen, the jock looked like a freaking weight lifter but Jensen knew he had the power in his lean form to take this guy apart.

The two jocks holding the boy dropped him to the floor, with a thud that elicited a loud groan, and barrelled towards Jensen. Jensen side stepped one who ran right into the wall. Moron. And lifted his elbow into the other's nose, feeling a bone shattering crunch. _Shit_ , he really hoped his Mom doesn’t hear about that. The last jock looked at Jensen liked he'd grown an extra head and ran towards him. Jensen grabbed the fist aimed at his head and pushed it back towards the other boy, taking in the shocked look on the jock’s face as his fist moved in completely the opposite direction that he’d intended. 

Jensen then planted his own fist in the other's boy's stomach, not hard enough to do any real damage but enough to wind him, and flipped the boy up and over his shoulder onto the floor. 

'This ain’t over Ackles.' One of the jocks gasped, wincing as he stood up. The three of them then hobbled out of the bathroom. 

'Yeah, yeah, it never is.' Jensen called after them.

‘Oh my God! I mean… Oh. My. God! You're, you...’ The boy on the floor began to stammer out.

Jensen waited for the ‘freak’, ‘weirdo’, ‘crazy’ comment that he had had thrown at him so many times before. 

'Are awesome.' Jensen blinked, taken aback, as the boy got to his feet, his eyes wide with awe. Well, _that_ was new. 'I'm Misha and we are totally going to be friends, and maybe you can be my personal bodyguard or something; that would be really great too.' The wide smile on the boy's face made Jensen laugh. 

'Alright, Misha, I'm Jensen.'

'Oh God, believe me, I know who you are.' Misha blushed. Jensen smiled nervously at that, he really hated being singled out. 

'Well let's get to Spanish, amigo.' Misha looped his arm through Jensen’s and pulled him out of the bathroom. Maybe Sunnydale High wasn’t going to be that bad after all.

****

By the end of that second day, Jensen had three new friends; Misha (obviously), Danneel, Misha's best friend, and Chris, Danneel's boyfriend. 

'Jensen, are these freaks bothering you?' Lauren sauntered up and laid a hand on Jensen's arm. 

'No, I'm good, thanks Lauren.' Jensen replied, subtly trying to move his arm a safe distance away from Lauren’s well-manicured talons.

Lauren pulled her hand away quickly, 'Really? You know, Jensen, hanging with these guys is, like, social suicide.'

'Yeah well, as I said, I'm good.' Lauren huffed and walked off. 

Yep, by the end of the second day, he had three new friends and one less stalker; that had been way better than day one. 

   
  



	3. Chapter Three.

  
** Chapter Three. **

Jensen woke up Saturday morning to something jumping on his bed. 

'Holy Shit!' Instinct had him reaching for the holy water under his bed and he splashed it on his assailant. 

'HEY!' Came from the now wet mass on his bed. 

'Misha?' Jensen finally squinted up at the boy who was pretty much sitting on top of him.

'Yeah, do you always greet you're guests with a shower? Jesus, man.' Misha scrubbed a hand down his face, wiping off some of the water. All Jensen could think was that it was fucking lucky that he hadn't pulled out the knife that was under his pillow. 

'Sorry, you just startled me.' _Not to mention I was having a freaky ass dream where a demon was trying to rip my throat out._ 'What are you doing here, it's only…?' He grabbed his watch from the chest next to his bed and groaned, '7.15.' Jensen was so not a morning person.

 

'Danneel's missing.' Misha said bluntly. 

'We saw her yesterday, dude, that’s not missing.’ Jensen replied, his forearm draped over his eyes in the hope that Misha would take the hint and go the fuck away.

'Yeah, I know, but she was meant to come over to mine for our regular Friday Night Movie Marathon but she didn't and she didn't call me and she didn’t answer any of my calls and I...'

'Meesh, calm down, I'm sure she's fine. Maybe she's with Chris or maybe she just forgot?' He ventured. 

'One - she's not with Chris, he's out of town at a gig this weekend, remember he left with Steve right after school, and two - Danni and I been have doing our Friday Night Movie Marathon for the past 12 years Jensen, that's not really something you just forget. And she _never_ doesn't return my calls.' To be honest, that actually didn't sound all that good to Jensen either, and he closed his eyes against the oncoming headache. This wasn’t supposed to be his job anymore. 

'Okay, Misha, we'll look for her today; we can't call the cops yet since she hasn't been missing for 48 hours so we can do some searching in the mean-time, I'm sure she's fine.' _Please, God, let her be fine._ 'You go and check out the mall and I'll go check down the park and we can meet back here in four hours. I'll keep my cell on in case you need to call me, alright?' Jensen was already making plans for where he'd go and check whilst he had Misha safely ensconced in the mall where there were lots of people and no dark places. One missing friend was enough.

 

Jensen's first stop, of course, was the cemetery, because his life was just fun that way. He didn't expect any of the nasties to be out yet, it being day and all, but Brown had told him that crypts were prime spots for rituals and freaky shit like that. And young, beautiful Danneel fit the profile of virginal sacrifice down to a tee, even though Jensen really hoped Misha would just call him and say that he had found Danneel and that they were having one of those weird coffees that Starbucks loved to pedal. But a little too much experience and a lot more pain had taught him to always expect the worst. 

Jensen was about half way through checking the crypts, and apart from way more rats than he had ever wanted to see, he’d found nothing suspicious in any of them and he was no closer to finding Danneel. He started when he heard a voice behind him.

'You ain't gonna find your pretty little friend in there.' Faster than most people could see, Jensen had the man up against a tree, his arm tight against his throat. The hold was loose; Jensen knew how to handle his strength and he didn't want to hurt the guy, well, not before he could get all the information on Danneel that the bastard clearly knew. 

What surprised him was that the man just smirked down at him, he didn’t seem the least bit scared that a 17 year old kid was able to hold all 6 and a half feet of him easily against the tree nor did he flinch at the promise of pain in Jensen’s eyes. 

'Where is she or I swear to God...'

'I don't think God has much to do with it.' The man smirked again. Jensen smelled a faint burning and looked down to see his cross necklace burning into the other man's chest.

 

'You're a vampire.' He jumped away, shocked that he hadn't noticed it before nor seen the way the man was conveniently standing in the darkest part of the cemetery, shaded by the huge yew trees. Jensen crouched into a fighting stance even though he was now in the sunlight and probably safe from assault. 

'Wow, they were right, you really _are_ behind on your Slayer training. Shouldn't you have been able to sense me by now? A little slow on the uptake are we Slayer?' The man mocked.

Jensen didn't change his stance or break eye contact with the creature but he couldn't help the blush that crept onto his face. He _was_ behind, years behind where he should’ve been and he knew it, he'd never be as good as Brown had wanted him to be. Jensen had tried his best and failed and gotten people killed but he wasn't going to risk that anymore, he was done with it. 

This wasn't about being the Slayer, this was just one friend looking out for another friend, just like Misha, it was just that he had some...specialist knowledge that he might as well put to good use. 

'I’m not playing games with you, vampire, now tell me what you know and I'll make it quick when I kill you.' Jensen spun the stake in his hand to let the man know that there was only one way this was all gonna end, and it was up to him whether Jensen made it fast or slow.

The dark haired stranger eyed the Slayer and chuckled. 'Slayer, this is all a game, and you should know that better than anyone by now, and you're not going to kill me, not today at least.'

'You're pretty damn sure of yourself considering you're the one hiding in the shadows.' It was Jensen's turn to smirk.

 

'Not hiding…waiting, and sunlight really isn't good for my complexion.'

'So I've heard.' Jensen shot back. 'Now _tell_ _me_ what you know.'

'Okay, Slayer, I’ll bite.’ He gnashed his teeth once and grinned. ‘There’s a demon in town, name of Gorath and he took you're little friend. He's going to use her body and blood to summon his lover from Hell and after that I'm pretty sure they're planning on turning this town and every other one on Earth to dust.'

'Of course they are.' Jensen muttered - same song, different verse. 'Any ideas where this romantic reunion is gonna go down?'

'In fact I do, and I'll show you, but…'

'But what?' Jensen sighed, aggravated and so passed wanting to deal with this arrogant jerk.

'We're going to have to take the sewer, sorry…sunlight remember?' The man pointed up to the sun, but he didn’t sound remotely sorry about it. 

'Fine,’ Jensen sighed, ‘Not like I haven't been in one before, I suppose.' He said more to himself than the vampire. 

'Wow, you kids today, know all the best places to hang out obviously.' The man drawled sarcastically.

'Yeah, the cemetery's always hoppin',’ Jensen deadpanned and the other man grinned back at him. Jensen started to walk over to the sewer entrance at the back of the graveyard, keeping under the shadows as much as possible. Although, he'd admit to straying into the sunlight a couple of times too. He didn't hear the vampire following but he could feel him there now.

'I like you, Slayer. How about we introduce ourselves if we're going to be battling the forces of darkness together, huh?' He asked dramatically with a mimed sword wave. 

Jensen stopped and turned round, looking disdainfully at the vampire. 'I don't need to know your name, vampire, and I’m certainly not going to give you mine. And we aren't fighting anything _'together_ ,' once we get there you’re going to leave and I'm going to handle everything else. I don't work with things like you.'

'Oh, that hurts, right here.' The vampire laid a hand over his dead heart, mockingly. 'Well, since I was born in a time when manners mattered, my name's Jared and, don't worry, I already know your name is Jensen.'

 

Jensen scowled; he really didn't like anyone knowing that he was the Slayer, let alone someone who played for the other team. And from the minimal amount of lore he’d picked up over the last year as the Slayer, he knew the power of a name and he didn’t relish the idea of an enemy knowing his. Jared became serious for a moment, 'And I'm not evil, I haven't killed anyone in a long time.'

Jensen snorted at that, he knew blood lust all too well; he had seen brothers turn on sisters, mothers on daughters, husbands on wives, it overrode everything. 'Yeah, I'm sure.' Jensen began to walk on again when a strong hand enclosed around his bicep.

'Don't judge what you don't know, Slayer. We've all made mistakes haven’t we Jensen?' That stopped Jensen in his tracks and he felt the familiar flush of shame crawl across his cheeks unbidden. Yes, he’d made mistakes alright. 

The strained moment passed and they started walking again, Jared slightly behind him. After a few minutes of Jared's intense gaze burning a hole in his spine, Jensen asked irritably, 'What?'

'Nothing,' Jared replied nonchalantly. 'Did you know that your ass is really distracting, it's kind of counterproductive when I'm trying to be focused on saving your friend and all.'

Jensen didn't like to be mocked, especially not by a vampire he'd only met half an hour ago, so he snapped back, 'Well if you wait a little, my friend is _way_ prettier than me so you can have something else to distract you.'

'I really doubt that.'

'No, really, guys in the street, like, walk into stuff when they see her, it's kinda funny actually.' It was true, he’d seen it happen.

'No, I don't doubt she's very pretty but there is no way that she's prettier than you.' Jared clarified, and Jensen could hear the smile in his voice. 

Jensen gaped at that, 'Dude, quit it, okay, I've had way too much stress today to be mocked right now.' Jensen pinched the bridge his nose in frustration and lifted the lid to the sewer. 

Jared couched in front of him, holding the other side of the large metal disc. 'Good, because I wasn't joking.' And he jumped gracefully into the hole.

Jensen didn't really know what to make of that but convinced himself that the vampire was just trying to throw him off so that Jensen wouldn't stake him, just like all the others did, and he jumped into the sewer after him. 

****

'Shit.' Jensen muttered as he felt the dirty water seep through his trainers and into the bottom of his jeans. He cursed again, silently, when he saw Jared leaning against the wall smirking, completely dry. Bastard.

 

Jensen stepped up beside Jared, onto the dry ledge, and shook off his jeans to try to get rid of some of the water. He ignored the squelch that followed him as he walked behind the taller man. 'So how far is this place?'

'Couple of miles, give or take.' The vampire really wasn't giving much away and Jensen was sure that it was because it liked to have control over him, and that was not something Jensen was happy about, especially not when his friend was in danger.

'Gonna expand on that, vampire?' 

'No,' Jared stopped so abruptly that Jensen almost walked into him. 'And my name is Jared, I suggest you use it.' The threat was obvious in the vampire's tone and Jensen knew when to pick his battles and Jared _was_ helping him, so he conceded on that one. 

'Okay, _Jared_ , can you at least tell me the place they're keeping Danni in so I can run through some entrance and escape strategies?' He asked; Jensen would need to get in and out as quickly as possible, hopefully before Danni figured out what was going on.

'It's a warehouse, she's in a cage in the basement.' Jared mused for a second before continuing. 'The demon should be asleep now but there are wards up everywhere to stop other demons getting in. Hence why I couldn't just save your friend when I found out the demon’s plans.'

 

What on Earth? 'Why would you want to save my friend?' Jensen asked, genuinely surprised at the vampire’s words.

 

Jared huffed, 'I _told_ you, Jensen, I'm not evil. If I find it I try to get rid of it and save anyone I can.' Jensen really doubted that; the vampire probably just got the innocents out so he could eat them afterwards. He grimaced at the thought of the lives lost to the vampire and vowed to make the bastard pay. 'And I don't eat the victims, if that's what you're thinking.' Mind reader? Jensen didn't think so but that had been a tad unnerving to say the least. 

'Okay.' 

An hour later, the air between them was more than a little strained. Jensen wanted to know where they were going and why Jared was helping him and Jared just wanted to know more about Jensen. He kept asking questions that Jensen really didn’t want to answer, I mean, _Jesus_ , did the guy think they were friends all of a sudden? Because Hell was going to freeze over, twice, before Jensen was teaming up with a vampire; he might have been a bit short on friends but he wasn’t _that_ desperate.

'So you liking Sunnydale better than Los Angeles?' The question stopped Jensen dead, he wondered again just how much the vampire knew about him. 

'How did you know I was from Los Angeles?' The guardedness obvious in his voice.

Jared didn't look too worried about freaking him out though, merely shrugging before answering. 'I told you, Jensen, I know who you are and I know a little about your past too. Know your enemy, as it were.' He smiled wolfishly at Jensen, teeth bared a little too much for Jensen to be comfortable.

 

'I thought we were meant to be pals now, Jared?' Jensen answered sarcastically.

'Oh really, Jensen, I'm so like super thrilled, like, can we braid each other's hair?' Jared replied in a high voice or as high as his deep voice would go, and in an equally sarcastic voice. The man added an eyelash flutter just to top it off. 

Jensen couldn't help it, a bark of laughter burst forth before he could stop it. Jared beamed back and Jensen felt a shiver down his spine and he didn't think it was the kind he was supposed to be having in the presence of the vampire.

Half an hour later and the taller man stopped and motioned for Jensen to do the same. 'Right, Jen,' there was that shiver again, _dammit_ , at his nickname coming in Jared's velvet dark voice. 'You need to go in there and take down all the anti-demon wards.'

'No, Jared, you need to go now, I've got this.' Jensen made a move towards the warehouse before the vampire stopped him again.

'And what happens if you're killed, Slayer, who’ll save your friend then?' The edge of steel in the vampire's tone, along with the flash in his dark eyes, made Jensen to take a step back. Jared was right though; Jensen was really rusty, he hadn't trained in months, he couldn't leave Danneel's life in the balance like that. 

'Fine, give me ten minutes and then you can come in. But, _please_ stay away from Danneel, I'm praying she's unconscious and if she's not, she definitely does not need to be seeing you. This is all going be hard enough to explain as it is.'

'Want to keep me all to yourself Slayer?' Jared teased.

'No, I just...this isn't my life anymore. I'm getting Danneel out and then all the demons and monsters in this town can just kiss my ass.' Jensen stated defiantly, checking his two stakes and the silver knife he kept lodged in his boot were all in place.

'I'm sure they'd just love to, Jensen, but you realise this gig isn't something you just give up, right?' The vampire said back to him.

'Well, I do love to break the mould.' Jensen answered, climbing up the ladder out of the sewer. He sighed and rolled his eyes, 'For God's sake, Jared, stop staring at my ass.'

Jared's chuckle followed him out into the street above.

****

Jensen entered the warehouse and found the sigils that Jared had told him about. After a moment’s indecision, he scrubbed them off the walls; Jared was right, Jensen might die (and wasn’t that a cheery thought) before he could save Danneel. He just hoped the vampire's word held true and that he would save her for him. Jared walked up to his side. 'So where is she Jared, do you know?'

'Yes, I can smell her perfume.' Jared stated matter of factly as though that wasn't just about the creepiest thing ever. 

'Right. Of course you can.' _Freak_.

'She's directly below us, in the basement.' Jensen set off for the stairs at a run and flew down them to discover himself in the pitch blackness of the basement. 

'Crap.' His night vision was good but nowhere near good enough to make sure that no one crept up on him from the dark. Jensen closed his eyes and stood still for a moment trying to centre himself like Brown had taught him. 

He let his other senses come alive, without his sight to guide him, and heard movement to his left and instantly dodged the claw ripping through the air. Jensen rolled across the stone floor away from his attacker. 'Jared, get Danneel out of here.' He shouted, hoping the vampire had followed him down into the basement. Jensen heard the clang of the lock being broken off the cage and heard fast footsteps ascending the stairs. 

'Come on, Jensen, I've got your friend, let's go.' Jensen kept his eyes closed but Jared's call distracted him enough to earn him a claw swipe across the stomach. 

'Just go, Jared, get her out of here.' Jensen begged through the pain, ‘ _Please_.’

'No way, Jensen, I'm not leaving you here.' Jared growled back from the bottom of the staircase.

'GO, NOW! Before I stake you myself!' He heard Jared curse and finally begin to climb the rest of the stairs.

 

Jensen brought himself back into a crouch, his back to the wall, waiting for the creature to approach. He could hear it and smell it, it was moving. He drew out his stake; there weren't many things that could survive multiple stab wounds to the neck so he'd just have to go with that. If the thing had a neck, obviously. 

Jensen heard scraping to his right and immediately barrelled forwards, planting his shoulder in the demon's stomach and flipping his head up to catch the creature's chin with the back of his head. Jensen heard it grunt and fall back. 

They circled each other, Jensen’s own movements and breathing silent. He tracked his opponent by the sounds of its ragged breathing and snarls. Jensen charged again but the beast's vision was clearly better than his and he was flipped onto his back like a rag doll. Jensen groaned at the pain in his spine and the rip across his stomach but heaved himself back up, wobbling a little in his battle stance. 

The creature was still in front of him but, this time, Jensen waited for the creature to move. Jensen stepped on something wet and slipped for a second, before being able to catch himself, but it was all the creature needed to have him flat on his back again, pain radiating though his ribs. Yep, pretty sure they were cracked.

 

This was it, he could feel the beast's breath on his neck, it was over. Seventeen years and he was done. It didn't seem enough, it didn’t seem fair. At least Danni was safe. One moment dripping fangs were inches from his throat and the next they weren’t. 

Jensen sat up instantly, his gut screaming in protest, and he was scanning the dark room for his attacker but he couldn't hear or sense it anywhere but he felt something else, someone else was there.

 

'Jensen, are you alright?' A voice spoke to him out of the darkness. 

'Jared?' The vampire had come back, _saved_ him?

'No, it's the fucking tooth fairy. Of course it's me, now answer the damn question.' Jensen wasn't really prepared for the anger he heard in the vampire's voice, he really didn't understand that at all.

 

'Um, yeah, I'm good, how's Danneel?'

Jared huffed, 'The girl's fine but I'm sure she'll be pissed as hell when she hears about your little kamikaze act. I mean, what the fuck were you thinking? It's pitch black down here, and Slayer or not, even you can't see in that, and you didn't even know what you were fighting. I never pegged you as stupid, naive maybe, but not stupid; I guess I was wrong.'

Wow, that hurt more than it should. 'Yeah, well, I never do seem to be able to live up to everyone’s expectations, why should you be any different, vampire?' It was meant to come out much more biting than it did but, in truth, Jensen knew how many people he’d let down in his short life and it was a heavy burden to carry. 'Is it dead?'

'Yes it's dead, let's go.'

Jensen couldn’t even begin to guess why the vampire had saved his life but he was man enough to give gratitude where it was due, even if it was the weirdest thing he was probably ever going to say, 'Thanks Jared, you saved my ass back there.' 

Jensen pulled himself to his feet, biting his lip against the groan of pain that wanted to break out at the move. He followed Jared back into the light of the warehouse and out the door. Danneel was unconscious on the ground behind some bushes, completely obscured. Jared merely grunted in response, still clearly mad at Jensen for reasons Jensen didn’t know. 

Jensen walked up to his sleeping friend and bent down to pick her up. As soon as he did, his ribs burned in protest and he couldn't help the gasp as he went to pull her into his arms. 

'Stop, Jesus, just stop. You've probably got a couple of cracked ribs, I'll take her.' Jared walked over and put out his arms to take the sleeping girl.

'No way, you’re not touching her again.' Jensen hefted Danneel more securely into his arms, despite his body's pained reaction. Even if Jared had saved his life, he didn't know if the guy was a perv or not, and Danneel was hot, there was no way he was handing her over to this guy to paw all over. 

Jared merely rolled his eyes, 'Fine, suffer through your _multiple_ injuries but, believe me, I’m really not interested in her.'

'Right, hot not your type then.' Jensen said sarcastically, Danneel was _everyone's_ type; the guy would have to be dead not to find her attractive. Jensen huffed at his own joke, Jared _was_ dead he supposed. When Jensen looked up, the street was empty and Jared was gone, obviously keen to get out of the sunlight and Jensen’s not so charming company. Jensen shrugged and hefted Danneel higher up in his arms and walked towards his house.


	4. Chapter Four.

 

** Chapter Four. **

Thanking whatever God was up there that his mom and Mack weren't home yet, Jensen was able to get Danneel up to his room. He called Misha to let him know that his best friend was safe and went about waking Danni up. 

He put one of his mom's lavender soaps under her nose and rubbed at her shoulder. 'Danni, wake up.'

Danneel opened her eyes slowly and he watched as her eyes began to focus and take in the room around her. 'Jensen? What happened?'

'What do you remember?' That was kind of crucial; Jensen didn’t want to reveal anything more than he had to.

'I was walking through the park on my way to Misha’s and there was this guy...and…and he ran up to me...I could have sworn…but there's no way.'

'What?' Jensen's stomach plummeted.

'I could have sworn he had red eyes, Jen. But that's ridiculous, right? Then, then…there’s nothing, what the hell happened Jensen?' She started to look a little panicked. 

'It's alright, Danni, it was just a mugger. He must have knocked you out. I found you a couple of hours ago. It's Saturday.' Jensen explained, keeping his voice level so that the girl wouldn’t sense the lies.

'What? I was knocked out for a whole day?' She raised an eyebrow like she didn't believe him but luckily she hadn’t known him long enough to read him all that well.

'Yeah, I know, he must have hit you real good. And you must have fallen behind one of the bushes in the cemetery, that’s where I found you, so I’m pretty sure that no one else would have even known you were there.' Jensen laughed nervously, hoping that she was still too out of it to notice the sweat beading on his upper lip. 

'Okay.' She sounded a little wary but since her rational mind clearly couldn't come up with a better explanation for what had happened and she didn't appear hurt at all, she seemed willing to accept his story. That was one thing that Jensen loved about civilians; they were so damn desperate to believe the world was the happy, safe place that they thought it was that they were willing to believe pretty much anything Jensen threw at them. 

Jensen let out a long breath when Danneel nodded and pulled herself up into a sitting position against his head board.

Misha came crashing through the door a moment later. 

'Oh thank God, Danni, you're alright.' He crossed over to the bed and pulled his best friend into a tight hug. It made Jensen’s heart ache a little to see that; Jensen hadn't a friend like that in…well, since James and he wanted it so badly. But hadn't this whole thing just shown him that any friends of his just weren't safe around him even if he had given up on the whole Slayer thing. 

Lost in his own morose thoughts, Jensen was surprised when he was gathered up in an equally tight hug from Misha, 'Thank you Jen, thank you so much.' It took Jensen a moment to react before he hugged Misha back, relishing the warmth he so rarely felt. 

'Didn't do much, Meesh, just brought her home.'

'Well thanks for that then, I'm going to get her home now, Jen, and we'll see you Monday.’ He drew back and looked intensely at Jensen, his clear blue eyes boring into him. ‘You look tired.' Jensen _felt_ tired, he was in pain and he desperately wanted to tell his friends the truth but he knew that he couldn't.

'Yeah I am a bit, I'm just chill out for a little while then have an early night, see you both on Monday, take care Danni.' He smiled at them as they left his room. 

Jensen fell back onto his bed when he heard the front door slam. He winced as his back made contact with the sheets as it jostled his ribs and pulled on the slash across his stomach which he’d hidden from his friends under his zipped black jacket. He thought Jared was probably right, a couple of his ribs did feel cracked. Jensen unzipped the jacket and pulled his blood soaked T-shirt over his head. 

He scooted up to the headboard and reached over to his side table and grabbed his antiseptic supplies. Jensen hissed as the antiseptic met his stomach and closed his eyes. When he was done, he taped a bandage across the gashes and went to lie back down. He fell asleep in moments despite the fact that it was still the middle of the day.

****

Jensen woke up to a soft knocking a few hours later and tried to bury his head back under the covers. The movement caused his ribs to remind him, sharply, of their fractured state. God, he should have wrapped them before he went to sleep but it was pretty impossible to do by himself and he had been too damn tired and in too much pain to worry about it then. Looked like he would have to have a try now if he was going to make it into school on Monday.

Another knock on his window caused him to sit up abruptly in the bed, grab his side and face outside. Jared sat on his window sill, his expression carefully blank. 

Jensen got up gingerly from the bed and walked over the window but didn't open it, whatever Jared might think he _wasn’t_ completely stupid.

'What are you doing here, Jared?' He had meant it to sound annoyed but he was tired and he hurt so it sounded more weary than anything else. 

'I wanted to see if you were alright.' Jared answered, his eyes quickly scanning over Jensen’s bruised body.

'I'm fine.' Jensen lied, shielding his body from the vampire’s view, and was rewarded by a flash of pain down his side. 

'Sure you are, Slayer.' Jensen wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off the vampire's face but that would involve opening his window which he wasn't really inclined to do right then. 'Let me at least wrap your ribs for you.'

'No fucking way am I letting you into my room, dude.' Even if he really wanted someone to wrap up his side for him, since he couldn't exactly ask his mom or Mack. That was another reason why Slaying sucked, he couldn't tell his family anything and sometimes he really just wanted his mom to hug him when things got bad, but he could never have that. 

Well, no more, Slaying was his past and normal was his future. 

'You still don't trust me Jensen, after everything I did today? I saved you and your little friend when I could easily have left you both to that demon?' Jared said, looking a little annoyed at Jensen’s lack of trust. Come on, what did the guy think this was?

'True, but who says you weren't simply trying to earn my trust to bag yourself a Slayer when I let my defences down.' It was a reasonable assumption; Jensen knew that vampires looked for bragging rights on killing Slayers, plus their blood was apparently awesome.

'Then I would have killed you right after I killed that demon, you weren't exactly firing on all cylinders there, Slayer.' That was also true, Jared _could_ have killed and drained him there but he hadn't. 

'Maybe you just want a good fight before you take me down and, believe me, that is just not happening. After tonight, I don't wanna see you again, or anything like you. I'm going go to school, graduate, get some kickass job and live a nice _normal_ life.' Jensen said, pointing his index finger at the vampire.

'And what's so brilliant about this normal life?' Jared sneered at him and Jensen knew that he was being mocked.

'It's safe.' Jensen answered, quietly. When he looked up at Jared he thought he saw a sympathetic look there, for just a moment, before it was gone and replaced by that neutral expression Jensen couldn't read. 

'You'll never be safe Jen, and I'm sorry about that, but you're the Slayer whether you want to be or not. It's in your blood and every bad thing out there knows it, you don't stop being the Slayer just because you don't want to do it anymore.'

'That's not true. I'm in a new town, no one knows me, I can be whoever I want to be and I certainly don't want to be that, not anymore, not after everything I've lost.' Jensen could feel himself getting angry, who did this asshole think he was to tell him what he had to do? Jensen was 17, he could make his own choices.

'And the fact that your new best friend was kidnapped doesn't seem at all strange to you?'

It did, but Jensen could put it down to coincidence, everyone needed a bit of denial in their lives and Jensen needed more than most. 'Hey, wrong place, wrong time, happens every day.'

'No, Jensen, they knew who she was to you. That demon knew that you would come for her and because you were rusty, you nearly got both of you killed. What happens the next time they take a member of your family or one of your friends and you've been out of the game too long to protect them?' Jared pushed, his eyes zeroed in on Jensen’s face.

'That's not fair; I'm staying under the radar for them as well as me, I can't protect them, not all of them, not all the time, they'll get caught in the cross fire and I can't…I can’t let that happen again. I won't.' Jensen stared boldly back at the vampire, rebellion written in every line of his body.

'You're right, it's not fair Jen but they're already in the cross fire and you need to be at your best to protect them as well as you can. You know that as well as I do; you can't deny who you are because the Supernatural knows it and they will never stop hunting you. Not until you're gone and, trust me when I say, they won't care who gets in their way.'

'But...but this is a new town, they shouldn't know me here.' Jensen pleaded desperately.

'We can sense what you are Jensen and you kind of moved to the worst town if you wanted to give up this life and stay under the radar.' Jared smiled sadly at him then.

'Why? Sunnydale's pretty dead from what I hear.'

'It's on a Hellmouth Jensen, evil gravitates here; you'll have more things hunting you here than anywhere else on the planet.' He looked up at Jensen then, 'One might say that it was fate that brought you here.' 

'Yeah and others might say it was the low house prices and good schools.' Jensen sighed, he felt defeated, he knew that Jared was right. Those things would come after him and his loved ones and he had shown tonight that he really wasn't in any position to protect any of them. 'Shit.' He muttered under his breath. 

'Quite. So slayer you done having your hissy fit and ready to fulfil your destiny?' 

'Yeah, I'm ready.' Jensen _wasn't_ ready, and he was pretty sure that he would never be ready, but he knew what had to be done.

'Good, ‘cause you've got work to do.' And with that the vampire was gone. 

****

** Chapter Four. **

Thanking whatever God was up there that his mom and Mack weren't home yet, Jensen was able to get Danneel up to his room. He called Misha to let him know that his best friend was safe and went about waking Danni up. 

He put one of his mom's lavender soaps under her nose and rubbed at her shoulder. 'Danni, wake up.'

Danneel opened her eyes slowly and he watched as her eyes began to focus and take in the room around her. 'Jensen? What happened?'

'What do you remember?' That was kind of crucial; Jensen didn’t want to reveal anything more than he had to.

'I was walking through the park on my way to Misha’s and there was this guy...and…and he ran up to me...I could have sworn…but there's no way.'

'What?' Jensen's stomach plummeted.

'I could have sworn he had red eyes, Jen. But that's ridiculous, right? Then, then…there’s nothing, what the hell happened Jensen?' She started to look a little panicked. 

'It's alright, Danni, it was just a mugger. He must have knocked you out. I found you a couple of hours ago. It's Saturday.' Jensen explained, keeping his voice level so that the girl wouldn’t sense the lies.

'What? I was knocked out for a whole day?' She raised an eyebrow like she didn't believe him but luckily she hadn’t known him long enough to read him all that well.

'Yeah, I know, he must have hit you real good. And you must have fallen behind one of the bushes in the cemetery, that’s where I found you, so I’m pretty sure that no one else would have even known you were there.' Jensen laughed nervously, hoping that she was still too out of it to notice the sweat beading on his upper lip. 

'Okay.' She sounded a little wary but since her rational mind clearly couldn't come up with a better explanation for what had happened and she didn't appear hurt at all, she seemed willing to accept his story. That was one thing that Jensen loved about civilians; they were so damn desperate to believe the world was the happy, safe place that they thought it was that they were willing to believe pretty much anything Jensen threw at them. 

Jensen let out a long breath when Danneel nodded and pulled herself up into a sitting position against his head board.

Misha came crashing through the door a moment later. 

'Oh thank God, Danni, you're alright.' He crossed over to the bed and pulled his best friend into a tight hug. It made Jensen’s heart ache a little to see that; Jensen hadn't a friend like that in…well, since James and he wanted it so badly. But hadn't this whole thing just shown him that any friends of his just weren't safe around him even if he had given up on the whole Slayer thing. 

Lost in his own morose thoughts, Jensen was surprised when he was gathered up in an equally tight hug from Misha, 'Thank you Jen, thank you so much.' It took Jensen a moment to react before he hugged Misha back, relishing the warmth he so rarely felt. 

'Didn't do much, Meesh, just brought her home.'

'Well thanks for that then, I'm going to get her home now, Jen, and we'll see you Monday.’ He drew back and looked intensely at Jensen, his clear blue eyes boring into him. ‘You look tired.' Jensen _felt_ tired, he was in pain and he desperately wanted to tell his friends the truth but he knew that he couldn't.

'Yeah I am a bit, I'm just chill out for a little while then have an early night, see you both on Monday, take care Danni.' He smiled at them as they left his room. 

Jensen fell back onto his bed when he heard the front door slam. He winced as his back made contact with the sheets as it jostled his ribs and pulled on the slash across his stomach which he’d hidden from his friends under his zipped black jacket. He thought Jared was probably right, a couple of his ribs did feel cracked. Jensen unzipped the jacket and pulled his blood soaked T-shirt over his head. 

He scooted up to the headboard and reached over to his side table and grabbed his antiseptic supplies. Jensen hissed as the antiseptic met his stomach and closed his eyes. When he was done, he taped a bandage across the gashes and went to lie back down. He fell asleep in moments despite the fact that it was still the middle of the day.

****

Jensen woke up to a soft knocking a few hours later and tried to bury his head back under the covers. The movement caused his ribs to remind him, sharply, of their fractured state. God, he should have wrapped them before he went to sleep but it was pretty impossible to do by himself and he had been too damn tired and in too much pain to worry about it then. Looked like he would have to have a try now if he was going to make it into school on Monday.

Another knock on his window caused him to sit up abruptly in the bed, grab his side and face outside. Jared sat on his window sill, his expression carefully blank. 

Jensen got up gingerly from the bed and walked over the window but didn't open it, whatever Jared might think he _wasn’t_ completely stupid.

'What are you doing here, Jared?' He had meant it to sound annoyed but he was tired and he hurt so it sounded more weary than anything else. 

'I wanted to see if you were alright.' Jared answered, his eyes quickly scanning over Jensen’s bruised body.

'I'm fine.' Jensen lied, shielding his body from the vampire’s view, and was rewarded by a flash of pain down his side. 

'Sure you are, Slayer.' Jensen wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off the vampire's face but that would involve opening his window which he wasn't really inclined to do right then. 'Let me at least wrap your ribs for you.'

'No fucking way am I letting you into my room, dude.' Even if he really wanted someone to wrap up his side for him, since he couldn't exactly ask his mom or Mack. That was another reason why Slaying sucked, he couldn't tell his family anything and sometimes he really just wanted his mom to hug him when things got bad, but he could never have that. 

Well, no more, Slaying was his past and normal was his future. 

'You still don't trust me Jensen, after everything I did today? I saved you and your little friend when I could easily have left you both to that demon?' Jared said, looking a little annoyed at Jensen’s lack of trust. Come on, what did the guy think this was?

'True, but who says you weren't simply trying to earn my trust to bag yourself a Slayer when I let my defences down.' It was a reasonable assumption; Jensen knew that vampires looked for bragging rights on killing Slayers, plus their blood was apparently awesome.

'Then I would have killed you right after I killed that demon, you weren't exactly firing on all cylinders there, Slayer.' That was also true, Jared _could_ have killed and drained him there but he hadn't. 

'Maybe you just want a good fight before you take me down and, believe me, that is just not happening. After tonight, I don't wanna see you again, or anything like you. I'm going go to school, graduate, get some kickass job and live a nice _normal_ life.' Jensen said, pointing his index finger at the vampire.

'And what's so brilliant about this normal life?' Jared sneered at him and Jensen knew that he was being mocked.

'It's safe.' Jensen answered, quietly. When he looked up at Jared he thought he saw a sympathetic look there, for just a moment, before it was gone and replaced by that neutral expression Jensen couldn't read. 

'You'll never be safe Jen, and I'm sorry about that, but you're the Slayer whether you want to be or not. It's in your blood and every bad thing out there knows it, you don't stop being the Slayer just because you don't want to do it anymore.'

'That's not true. I'm in a new town, no one knows me, I can be whoever I want to be and I certainly don't want to be that, not anymore, not after everything I've lost.' Jensen could feel himself getting angry, who did this asshole think he was to tell him what he had to do? Jensen was 17, he could make his own choices.

'And the fact that your new best friend was kidnapped doesn't seem at all strange to you?'

It did, but Jensen could put it down to coincidence, everyone needed a bit of denial in their lives and Jensen needed more than most. 'Hey, wrong place, wrong time, happens every day.'

'No, Jensen, they knew who she was to you. That demon knew that you would come for her and because you were rusty, you nearly got both of you killed. What happens the next time they take a member of your family or one of your friends and you've been out of the game too long to protect them?' Jared pushed, his eyes zeroed in on Jensen’s face.

'That's not fair; I'm staying under the radar for them as well as me, I can't protect them, not all of them, not all the time, they'll get caught in the cross fire and I can't…I can’t let that happen again. I won't.' Jensen stared boldly back at the vampire, rebellion written in every line of his body.

'You're right, it's not fair Jen but they're already in the cross fire and you need to be at your best to protect them as well as you can. You know that as well as I do; you can't deny who you are because the Supernatural knows it and they will never stop hunting you. Not until you're gone and, trust me when I say, they won't care who gets in their way.'

'But...but this is a new town, they shouldn't know me here.' Jensen pleaded desperately.

'We can sense what you are Jensen and you kind of moved to the worst town if you wanted to give up this life and stay under the radar.' Jared smiled sadly at him then.

'Why? Sunnydale's pretty dead from what I hear.'

'It's on a Hellmouth Jensen, evil gravitates here; you'll have more things hunting you here than anywhere else on the planet.' He looked up at Jensen then, 'One might say that it was fate that brought you here.' 

'Yeah and others might say it was the low house prices and good schools.' Jensen sighed, he felt defeated, he knew that Jared was right. Those things would come after him and his loved ones and he had shown tonight that he really wasn't in any position to protect any of them. 'Shit.' He muttered under his breath. 

'Quite. So slayer you done having your hissy fit and ready to fulfil your destiny?' 

'Yeah, I'm ready.' Jensen _wasn't_ ready, and he was pretty sure that he would never be ready, but he knew what had to be done.

'Good, ‘cause you've got work to do.' And with that the vampire was gone.  
  



	5. Chapter Five.

 

** Chapter Five. **

** **

** Jensen. **

** **

'Jensen?' The librarian looked up at the young man as he entered his domain.

‘Well, I had a pretty interesting weekend.' Jensen hopped up on the large oak desk in the centre of the room and saw the Watcher bite his lip to stop himself from telling Jensen to get down. 'One of my awesome new friends was taken by a demon for some crazy ritual and I had to go and save her. A vampire decided he'd like to help me out and then told me that this whole place was built on a Hellmouth and that if I ducked out of my Slayer-y duties I'd end up getting my friends and family killed because I couldn't protect them.' 

He sighed. 'I'm telling you, this weekend _really_ sucked ass.’ He turned to the older man. ‘How was your weekend?' Sarcasm dripped from every word that left Jensen's mouth but he didn't care; he was still pissed that he couldn't escape all this crap and his ribs ached and his side burned every time he moved. 

'Well, um, not as interesting as yours, clearly. So I take it that you've decided that you'd like to get back into your training.' Beaver asked, and Jensen glared at the man.

'What I would _like_ is to not have to spend every minute fighting for my life or training to fight for my life. What I would _like_ is not to be having dreams about people being torn to shreds or having their hearts ripped out. What I would _like_ is to be able to finish high school and move out and be normal. But I'm guessing what I'd like doesn't really matter and I better put that normal life on the back burner since I'm gonna be dead before I turn 25…if I'm lucky.' It was true, only a handful of Slayers had reached their thirtieth birthdays and with the years lost at Jensen's initial training, he would be lucky to make it past 20. And that was a raw deal in Jensen’s opinion. 

'You're right Jensen and I'm sorry, but I promise to train you and prepare you to the best of my abilities. I'll be right there beside you the whole way.' 

Jensen smiled for the first time since Saturday night, he knew that Beaver would have his back, just like Brown always had. 'Thanks Beaver, so how are we gonna do this?'

'We'll train for two hours every day after school and I'll come on patrol with you, sometimes, to watch and correct your technique. There are some books I'd like you to read so that you're up on all the lore that you've missed during your...sabbatical.' 

Jensen raised an eyebrow at the suggestion that he actually read books on the Supernatural, no way in hell that one was happening. Something clearly struck Jim at the last moment, 'You said a vampire _helped_ you?'

'Oh, yeah, it was weird. He helped save Danneel too, seriously he could have left me to die but he came back for me. Plus, he was the one who pretty much convinced me that this gig wasn’t really as much of a choice as I wanted to think. I don't like it; he makes me feel on edge, like I'm missing something.' There was something about the vampire that put him on his guard, well apart from being a creature of the night of course, but there was something else as well and Jensen didn't like it.

'What was his name Jensen?' Jim looked worried and Jensen didn't blame him, it was extremely unusual behaviour for a vampire to help a Slayer, let alone save their life. Jensen, himself, had been thinking through all the possibilities for why it had happened since Saturday and he wasn't loving most of the scenarios his brain threw out. 

'Jared.'

'Just Jared?'

'That's all he told me.' The vampire had told him very little about himself, despite the great deal he appeared to know about Jensen, that also irked the Slayer. He hated being out of the loop, especially when out of the loop in the Slayer world would more than likely get him killed. 'Hey, I need to get to Chem.' An idea sprang to Jensen's sharp mind and he grinned at his Watcher, 'Unless you wanna write me a note to get out of it and we can talk some more.' He picked up one of the heavy tomes he had absolutely no intention of reading and started to thumb through it, ‘Cause this is starting to real interesting to me right now.'

Jim raised his eyebrows, clearly unimpressed by his brilliant idea, 'Go.' And he pointed to the double doors of the library. 

‘Fine, I'm going.' Jensen walked out of the library.

****

The Slayer and the Watcher remained oblivious to the blue eyes that had watched the whole conversation.  
  
     
  



	6. Chapter Six.

** Chapter Six. **

** **

** Jensen. **

Jensen's heart was heavy as he deliberately steered round Misha and Danneel's table, at lunch, to make his way to the library. He needed to distance himself from them, especially now that he was taking his ‘job’ back up again. Sterling had told him that a Slayer couldn't have friends and he'd made the selfish mistake before and it had cost him. He wouldn't risk his new friends' lives just so he didn’t have to be lonely. 

Plus, Slaying made him a pretty sucky friend, by all accounts, so they'd totally be better off without him. Jensen had just about managed to convince himself that he'd be fine doing this alone, when a hand grabbed his elbow and pulled him into an empty classroom. 

'Spill, Ackles. What the hell was that?'

‘Misha?’ Jensen asked shocked and more than a little caught out. ‘Uh, what was what?’ He added casually, like they both didn’t know exactly what Misha was talking about.

‘ _That_ , in the cafeteria, the whole, ‘ _I’m gonna waltz over to your table then turn around_ so _deliberately that you can’t miss that I’m not going to sit with you anymore_. By the way, you get an F for subtlety, dude. Now, I repeat, spill.’

‘What? Maybe I just don’t want to be friends with you guys; maybe I’ve found someone better to hang out with.’ Jensen felt like an asshole for even voicing the words.

‘Who? Jim the librarian? Wow, way to climb the social ladder, Jensen.’ He fixed Jensen with those piercing blue eyes that made him just want to confess every bad thing he’d ever done, _God_ , the guy should be in the freaking FBI. ・@

‘I just…I had some homework to catch up on and I needed books, and there are books, lots of them, books, I mean, in the library. So I went there, to the library, to do homework…with books.’ He finished lamely, God, he was such a loser.

It was so obvious that Misha was trying hard to not laugh in his face and Jensen couldn’t blame him, he was acting like a crazy person. ‘Oh homework was it? Because I kind of thought it had something to do with you being the Slayer and you going to train with Jim so that you could pretty much save the world.’

Jensen’s jaw dropped as he stared at his friend.

‘And, I thought that maybe you were avoiding us so that we wouldn’t get hurt. So it’s nothing to do with that then?’

‘No?’ Jensen croaked out. And what the fuck was he meant to say to that?

‘Really, because I’m pretty sure that was what you and Jim were talking about when I was in there earlier. And I talked to Danni on Saturday night and she told me about the guy with the red eyes, you know the ‘mugger’, Jensen.’ The sarcasm wasn’t lost on Jensen when Misha called the demon a mugger.

‘Misha, it’s not what…’

‘What I think? ‘Cause I think it’s exactly what I think.’ Jensen shook his head helplessly. ‘And I think you’re going to need all the friends you can get, ya know, to stop you from dying before you hit 25. Because I gotta tell you, that would totally suck.’ Jensen’s heart clenched painfully at the reminder of how his life was going to end, like it always did when he let himself dwell on it.

‘You can’t Meesh,’ Jensen turned away from his friend. ‘You have no idea what’s out there.’

‘Then show us, Jen, we’re behind you every step of the way, we’re not gonna leave you to fight this shit on your own.’ Misha replied earnestly.

‘But...’

‘Nope, I have spoken and so shall it be.’ Misha held up his right hand as if he was swearing an oath of allegiance to Jensen - and knowing Misha, he probably was. The image was so ridiculous that, despite the tense situation, Jensen actually laughed. 

‘God, you’re such a goof, Meesh.’ He paused for a moment. ‘Thanks.’

‘Well, I hope that means we’re allowed in the club too because I totally coached him through that speech this morning.’ Danneel and Chris entered the classroom.

‘I don’t...’ He looked frantically at all his new friends, completely lost as to where his ‘Alienate My New Friends’ plan had gone so terribly wrong.

‘Don’t even try it.’ Danneel ordered and he shut his mouth, _Christ_ , she was like his mom. ‘We’re in this with you, no matter what, okay. Plus, you totally saved my life from that red eyed bastard so there’s no getting rid of me now.’ She grinned evilly at him. 

Jensen looked to Chris for help; clearly he was the only other sane person in the room. He just shrugged, ‘I go where the red head goes.’ Or not.

‘You know, Beaver’s gonna kill me for this.’ Jensen pinched his nose trying not to think of the impending argument he was about to have with his Watcher.

****

‘Absolutely not.’ Beaver’s voice sounded pretty final to Jensen. In any other circumstance, he would totally rally against that tone of voice but he kind of agreed with his Watcher on this one. 

‘Sorry guys, he’s my Watcher, I have to do what he says.’ Every one of them shot him an incredulous look as if he wasn’t the paradigm of obedience. What, he _totally_ was, really. ‘What?’

‘As if that would ever stop you doing anything, Jensen. I’ve only known you a couple of days and I’ve seen you kick the crap out of the starting quarterback, you don’t take orders from anyone and you know it.’ Jensen deflated a little at that.

‘I’m sorry boys and girls,’ Chris looked especially miffed at that one. ‘But you’re simply not equipped to handle the things in Jensen’s life and you’ll only end up getting yourselves hurt.’ Beaver said in that overly reasonable tone that adults always use when their kids are being rebellious.

‘And what makes you so special, man? You got a rocket launcher in your pocket, because you seem just about as weak as we are?’ Chris asked, assessing the older man in front of him. 

Beaver narrowed his eyes at the younger man. ‘Yes, I am just as mortal as you but I’ve trained my whole life for this; I have knowledge none of you possess and I can handle myself in any fighting situation.’ Jensen rolled his eyes, that was a loud of crap, he was sure of it; Sterling had been a pretty good guy but, from the shit Jensen had read about the Watchers who came before him, there seemed to an awful lot more watching than fighting when it came to the partnership. He wasn’t going to say that of course. 

‘Well, gramps,’ Beaver bristled at the disrespect in Chris’ tone. ‘You can either prepare us to help Jen without getting ourselves filleted or we can go in with him blind, your choice, because we aren’t abandoning him now that we know the truth.’ That damn warm feeling was back in Jensen’s stomach, he was such a fucking sap. 

Beaver looked around the group, taking in their determined faced before he sighed. ‘Fine. But none of you go anywhere alone without Jensen and you all need to start reading up on your mythology if you’re going to help out with my research for the Slayer. I suggest you relocate your lunch breaks to the library from now on.’ Beaver said, clearly exasperated.

And just like that, Jensen’s three new friends became his three new side kicks. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that but the knot in his stomach indicated that it wasn’t all that good.  
  
  



	7. Chapter Seven.

** Chapter Seven. **

 

** Jensen. **

Jensen patrolled every night till midnight, sometimes flanked by his friends, sometimes by his Watcher, but mostly he went out alone. Misha and Danni helped Jim (yes his Watcher had _finally_ convinced him to call him Jim, Beaver did sound kind of stupid yelled across the library) with research whenever something strange happened in town and Jensen went in for the kill. He trained with Jim, and found that his old skills weren’t gone, just really freaking rusty after all his time not training.

It had been a month since reaccepting his responsibilities and Jensen was alone on patrol. He’d had a tough night; three vampires in the first graveyard he’d visited, four on the streets looking to feed, and he was now sweeping Sunnydale’s second graveyard hoping that he wouldn’t see any more action tonight. 

‘Busy night, Slayer?’ Jensen spun round. He hadn’t heard that voice in a month and he’d fully intended never to hear it again.

Jensen had his stake raised instantly, ‘What do you want vampire?’

‘So we’re back to vampire, are we? I thought we meant so much more than that to each other, life or death situation and all that.’ Jared pushed off the tree he’d been leaning against. 

‘You’re nothing to me vampire; you saved my life and I spared yours in return. I owe you nothing.’

Jared’s eyes hardened. ‘Really, Slayer, because I’m pretty damn sure I saved you _and_ your little girlfriend’s lives back there. That makes me one up on you, I think.’ 

Jensen knew that Jared was right and he hated being in anyone’s debt. ‘Fine, vampire, what do you want?’

‘I smelt a pack of werewolves come into town a couple of nights ago.’ He wrinkled his nose in disgust. ‘I think I’ve come across their leader before; we had somewhat of a…disagreement a few decades ago and I’m not liking my odds against his whole pack. I need you to help me take them out before they come after me.’ 

Jensen looked at the man; he didn’t like the sound of this, werewolves were fierce predators. If he and Jared went after them, they’d have to kill them all or risk the others avenging their dead. Jared may not like the odds of one against the whole pack but Jensen wasn’t thinking _two_ against the whole pack was that much better. 

Jared sighed at Jensen’s lack of enthusiasm, ‘You were going to have to take them out anyway Jensen, it’s kind of your _job_. This way we hit them before they manage to rip any hearts out of your innocent civilians.’ That was true, Jensen had met a werewolf once before, back in Los Angeles, and the bastard had left a trail of bloody corpses behind before Jensen managed to take him down. Lord only knew how much damage a whole pack of wolves could do. 

‘Okay, I’ll help you, but you know this isn’t going be easy right? One werewolf is bad enough but a whole pack…’ Jensen had a feeling that this fight was really going to hurt. 

‘You scared Slayer?’ Jensen rolled his eyes, he wasn’t that easily goaded. 

‘Cautious, I think’s the right word; I just don’t want to get my ass kicked by a load of angry wolves, sue me.’

Jared smiled at that, ‘You’re right, it’s not going to be easy but from what I’ve seen tonight, you’ve been training.’ Jensen glared at him, hoping to communicate how he felt about Jared’s distinct lack of help on his patrol. Seeing as he was _supposedly_ one of the good guys, after all. ‘And you’ve got me with you and you know just how awesome I am.’

‘How could I possibly forget when you just keep reminding me?’ Jensen snarked back. ‘Right, well, I’m done for tonight, I’ve got school tomorrow. So tomorrow night good for you?’

‘Alright, Jensen, if you feel that you need your beauty sleep we’ll do this tomorrow.’ Jared flicked his gaze up and down Jensen’s body, ‘Personally, I don’t think you need it, you get any hotter and you’re gonna burn up.’ Jensen flushed even though he knew that Jared was kidding, trying to get a rise out of him. 

‘Yeah, yeah, I’m a real fire hazard.’ Jensen rolled his eyes, putting his stake away. In an instant, he found himself pinned to the tree Jared had been leaning lazily against. 

‘I know you think I’m playing with you, Jensen, but I’m really not.’ Jared bent down close to his neck and inhaled. Jeez, was he smelling him? ‘Bye, lover, see you tomorrow.’ Jared kissed him quickly on the lips before disappearing into the night leaving Jensen, breathing heavily and holding onto the tree for dear life.

What the fuck?

****

Jensen sat on one of the headstones in the graveyard that Jared had left him in last night, swinging his leg impatiently, waiting to see if the vampire would even show. Jim wasn’t overly happy that he was working with Jared but Jensen had pointed out that there was no way he was going to be able to take out the whole werewolf pack alone. He didn’t point out that he didn’t really think that he and Jared would be able to do it either, at least not unscathed. 

The vampire was a complete paradox to Jensen; he acted like a complete asshole most of the time and he was a freaking vampire, for Christ’s sake, but he was going up against a werewolf pack with Jensen where they were more than likely going to get themselves killed and asking for nothing in return. He was acting like was bribing Jensen to do it, like killing the werewolves was a big favour to the vampire. It just wasn’t right; it went against everything he’d been taught since this whole madness started; Jared was a vampire, he wasn’t supposed to be good. But all the evidence Jensen had, to his annoyance, pointed to the fact that Jared and he were fighting on the same side. As he said, it was just weird. 

‘Huh, you actually showed up.’ The obvious surprise in Jared’s voice irritated Jensen. 

‘I always honour my debts, Jared, and as you so kindly pointed out yesterday, I owe you for saving Danneel.’ 

‘True, you do. So shall we.’ Jared led Jensen out of the graveyard towards a motorbike parked outside. ‘Put this on.’ He threw a black helmet to Jensen, as he threw one long leg over the bike. ‘Hop on board, Sweetheart.’

Jensen caught the helmet but didn’t put it on, ‘No way am I getting on that thing with you.’

Jared huffed, ‘Christ! And why the hell not?’

‘Because it’s not freaking safe; we have an accident and you heal up way better than I do.’ Jensen argued back.

‘Believe me, Jensen, I’m not going to let anything happen to you.’ The sincerity in Jared’s voice caught Jensen off guard, ‘Anyway scars are totally sexy.’ The joke did not and Jensen rolled his eyes again and put the helmet on his head. 

‘Slow, Jared.’ Jared turned his helmeted head to look at Jensen over his shoulder as he sped away much faster than Jensen expected. Jensen grabbed Jared tightly around the waist, needing to grip the larger man firmly in order to stay on the bike.

‘Asshole.’ He muttered into Jared’s back, eyes squeezed tightly closed. He might not have been able to hear Jared’s laughter but he felt the rumblings vibrate through him and into his own body. 

****

Once they had stopped, Jensen tried to get his breathing back to normal. Jared had blown passed every speed limit the whole way and Jensen was feeling half terrified and half exhilarated by the trip. It was unsettling.

‘What part of slow didn’t you get Jared?’ He scowled at the vampire once he had removed his helmet.

‘Oh, baby, I don’t do slow.’ Jared leered at him.

‘Whatever.’ Jensen looked away; he really couldn’t look at Jared when he looked at him like that, ‘So we’re just going in guns blazing? That’s your plan?’

‘Pretty much, yeah.’ Jared nodded. ‘These guys are strong but they’re not all that smart. I think we could take a couple of them down before they even realise that they’re under attack. Even the odds a little.’ The plan did have its merits, Jensen had a gun loaded with silver bullets and he was a crack shot, if he did say so himself. He was sure that he could take out a couple of the werewolves before they were made and, with Jared at his side, they could hopefully level the playing field.

‘Alright, since this is your fight, I’ll follow your lead Jared.’ Jared nodded to him and gestured for him to follow. They were out in the middle of nowhere, pretty far from the outskirts of Sunnydale but close enough for the town to be the werewolves’ primary hunting ground.

Jared motioned towards a large barn, clearly the remnants of an abandoned farm, and raised an eyebrow in question at Jensen. Jensen pulled his gun from his bag and nodded that he was ready, drawing the gun up in front of him as Jared moved to slowly open the doors.

There was no movement at first and Jensen waited for his eyes to adjust to the near pitch black inside the barn. Then he saw them and _heard_ them, all in wolf form, feeding on something large. There was blood everywhere and Jensen was shooting before he’d even aimed. He hit two wolves squarely in the chest sending them down; the hits were good, and they didn’t get back up. 

Meanwhile, Jared had ripped one wolf’s throat out and decapitated a second with a long silver blade.

It was chaos after that; there were four wolves left, one clearly the leader. Jensen had his gun wrenched out of his hand and thrown across the barn so he was left with just his stake and his God-given skills. He threw his stake into the back of one of the wolves attacking Jared, it might not kill the beast, but it would give Jared a moment to rip its heart out. 

Jensen felt himself being lifted and thrown against the wooden wall of the barn and he landed in a heap. He climbed back up only to receive a powerful punch to the stomach which had him bending over double so he just ran forwards ramming the guy with his head. The wolf fell backwards and Jensen grabbed the small blade from his ankle, at least it was silver, and stabbed it down into the creature’s chest. He repeated the move until the other body stopped moving.

A sharp pain ripped across his back and Jensen felt his shirt split as claws tore at his skin. In an instant, Jared was there, tearing the Alpha off Jensen and throwing him across the room. 

‘You alright?’ Jared knelt down next to him, a hand on his shoulder.

‘Peachy.’ Jensen snarked back, what kind of question was that anyway? His back felt like it had just been flayed and Jared was asking if he was okay. ‘Let’s just finish this okay.’

Jared glared at him for a moment before letting go of his shoulder, ‘Fine.’ They both turned to face the Alpha who smirked a moment before pulling a lever on the wall next to him. 

Jensen felt the floor give out and he and Jared fell into the dark. 

****

Jensen landed on his injured back and groaned out in pain; then he noticed that Jared had landed right on top of him and he had to bite back a groan for an entirely different reason. 

‘Looks like a cellar to me.’ Jared said into the dark.

‘Thanks for that insight, MacGuyver, very helpful, got any bright ideas what we do now?’

Even in the dark of the room, Jensen could see the bright flash of Jared’s teeth as the man smirked at him, ‘I can think of a few things.’ Jensen blushed as his mind, so helpfully, supplied some images of the things Jared could do to him in that cellar. 

‘Nice. Now get the hell off me.’ 

**Jared** _._

Jared smirked and rolled off the Slayer. As it happened, he didn’t have any idea how they were going to get out of the cellar but at least he could see in the dark. He took in the room and saw an old lantern hanging in the corner, he walked over to it and flicked open his lighter. Once he’d lit the torch he hung it back on the wall, letting it illuminate the room a little better so that Jensen could see as well.

He heard a bang and looked over when Jensen groaned under his breath, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

‘What is it?’ Jared asked. 

‘The door’s freaking locked.’ As much as Jared kind of liked the idea of being locked up anywhere with the Slayer, he didn’t love the idea that that place was part of a werewolf den. And if the bones littering the floor were anything to go by, he assumed that the wolves weren’t done with them yet. ‘We’re sitting ducks.’

A moment later, there was a growl in the dark. 

‘Jared. Jared, I don’t think we’re alone down here.’ Jensen whispered, suddenly close to his ear.

‘No, you’re ri…’ Something barrelled into Jared’s side before he even saw it and then he could smell the rancid breath of a wolf as it tried to rip his throat out. Bringing his hands up, he shoved at the creature’s chest, sending it flying across the room into the opposite wall. 

Jared watched in horror as the wolf banged into the wooden side of the barn and the lantern he’d hung up on the wall wobbled with the impact. Before he could make it over to wall and catch it, the lantern fell to the floor. _Shit!_ The hay caught fire as soon as the flames touched it and the fire spread like lightning through the barn. 

Jared caught sight of Jensen by the door on the other side of the fire; at least he would be able to get out because there was no way Jared was going to make it through those flames. Jared watched the Slayer as the man ducked outside, briefly wondering whether Jensen would find it as scary driving back on his motorbike now that he would be the one in control. 

He was, therefore, shocked to see Jensen run back into the barn, something bundled under his arm. What the hell was he doing? Jensen ran through the flames up to him, shielding his face with his arm, and throwing the bundle at him. He stripped off his hoodie and threw that to Jared too.

‘Put that in front of your face, Jared.’ He took the bundle back off Jared and shook it out, oh it was a blanket. ‘Get down and stay under this.’ Jensen threw the blanket over him and Jared put the hoodie over his face. It smelt like Jensen, and he tried not to think about that, not when imminent death was literally licking at his heels. Jared could feel Jensen guiding him forwards through the heat and though it was painful, it wasn’t unbearable. 

Jared felt a rush of cold air and knew that they were outside. He threw off the blanket and dropped the smoky hoodie to the ground. Jensen was off to his left, coughing harshly and, now that he was out of danger, his mind was suddenly able to process what had just happened. Jensen had come back in to save him.

‘Why?’ He asked without really thinking.

Jensen looked up at him, eyes still red and streaming from the smoky air of the barn. He had a painful looking burn on his arm which had been left uncovered when he had given Jared his hoodie, ‘Why what?’ The kid rasped out.

‘Why’d you come back?’ Jensen had risked his life to save Jared and that just didn’t make any sense to him. They were enemies by nature, Jensen should have let him burn; let the fire save him a job. Jensen just looked at him puzzled, as if Jared was stupid.

‘Uh, in case you hadn’t noticed, that barn is kind of on fire. You would have been a neat little pile of ash right now if I hadn’t gone back in there.’ Jared watched him rip of a strip of his hoodie and hiss as he wrapped it around the burn on his arm, but there was no accusation or blame in his eyes when he levelled them on Jared.

‘Yeah, I know, _that’s_ what I’m saying. Why did you come back?’

Jensen just shrugged like it was nothing, ‘Because I don’t think anyone deserves to die, especially not if I can do something about it.’ He coughed again, then added quietly, ‘And because deep down I actually think you _might_ be a good person.’ Jared’s mind added that he wasn’t a person _at all_ anymore, ‘I mean you’re here now, right? You took out those weres.’ Jensen shrugged again, looking tired. ‘We’ve all done things that we wish would could take back and all we can do is move on and try to make amends in the time that’s left to us.’

Jared just gaped at the 17 year old in front of him, no one had ever looked past the fact that he was a vampire, not in all the years he’d been hunting evil. He felt a warmth filter his body that he hadn’t felt in years, at the thought that maybe, just maybe, not everyone saw him as evil. That _Jensen_ didn’t think he was evil, no matter how much of an asshole Jared had been to him. How could this kid be for real? After everything he must have seen, how could he still have the capacity to look past all the shit someone carried with them and see the good? 

Jared swallowed, feeling his heart clench as he looked at the open and earnest look on the Slayer’s face underneath all the grime and dirt. There was clearly much more to this Slayer than he had first thought and that…that was not good.  
  
  
  



	8. Chapter Eight.

** Chapter Eight. **

** Jared. **

Jared didn’t know when it had happened; when his light flirting had turned into something completely different and more meaningful. Somewhere between seeing the kid nearly torn up by the demon that first day and Jensen saving him in that hunt against those wolves, something had shifted and Jared really needed it to shift back.

Sure, he’d thought the kid was hot (he _had_ eyes, for God's sake) when he had seen him in the graveyard but, when he’d seen Jensen in danger, Jared had felt an odd twinge in his chest at the thought that the boy might die. He’d just figured it was because the kid was so young. That _that_ was the reason why he’d gotten so angry when Jensen had been so reckless with his safety; some misplaced protective instinct for someone so much younger than himself.

But after watching Jensen fighting vampires and zombies and all manner of hell-sent minions over the following weeks, he’d found that instinct hadn’t gone away. If anything it had gotten stronger and he just hadn’t been able to fathom why. Jared just didn’t want to see the Slayer hurt, he couldn’t even bear to think about it; he wanted to jump down and push Jensen behind him and protect him from everything that wanted to hurt him. It was odd and more than a little disconcerting. 

And then there had been the werewolf raid and everything had become clear to Jared; Jensen had looked at him like he was a man, like he was someone who didn’t deserve to spend the rest of eternity in hell. Someone who deserved forgiveness. And then Jared had known what that strange twinge he’d felt in his chest all those weeks ago had meant; he wanted the Slayer, and not just in his bed. He wanted the boy in his life, by his side and he wanted…he wanted Jensen to want him back.

_Jesus Christ_ , Jared couldn’t do this, not with a Slayer, and if he truly wanted to protect Jensen he needed to keep the guy away from himself as well. No matter how much Jensen seemed to have accepted that he was fighting on the side of good, Jared knew that he was still a demon. He’d done things that no one got forgiven for, things that no one _should_ get forgiven for. 

Add that the fact to that Jared had made a lot of enemies fighting on the good side the last few decades and Jared was a very dangerous playmate to have. 

Jared was all too aware that he was still a monster. All his good intentions meant nothing when everyday he had to tear open a blood pack to feed and had to fight the urge to rip open some throats and drink deep instead. 

Jared had no idea if he would be able to control himself around Jensen, the kid was a walking temptation and something Jared just didn’t need. And, _God_ , he’d hurt enough people over the years but if he did something to Jensen, how would he ever redeem his soul after that? The boy was a Slayer, a hero of mankind, and if Jared killed him, well…there was just no coming back from that. He would never be able to forgive himself, knowing that he’d been the one to take Jensen and his brightness out of the world.

No, there was no way Jared was letting his feelings for Jensen get out of hand. He just needed a little distance, he needed to stop the flirting and just get the job done. Easy peasy. Right?

****

Jared and Jensen began hunting together after the success of the werewolf raid; they worked like a well-oiled machine, in tune with one another in a way that Jared had never been with anyone else he had teamed up with before.  Jensen had introduced Jared to his Watcher and his friends, his little group of side-kicks, who helped him with research and the odd patrol.  It was the strangest set-up that Jared had ever come across but he couldn’t deny that it seemed to work.  Jared even found himself kind of liking the quirky group of kids, but he couldn’t help the possessive impulse that shot through him when the blue eyed one’s gaze lingered on Jensen just a shade too long for his liking. 

The boy’s Watcher was a different story; he barely looked at Jared at all and, when he did, his eyes held nothing but disgust and disdain; Jared had seen that look most of his undead life, it was nothing new, it simply highlighted just how special Jensen’s acceptance of him really was.

For the most part, Jared tried to keep their interactions as professional as he could; he toned down his flirting and lewd innuendos.  And if his touch lingered sometimes a little too long or his eyes found Jensen more often than not, then that was nobody’s business but his own.  

The distance thing had been totally working for him.  Well, up until a month later, of course, and the damned wendigo hunt.

  
**** 

  
The distance thing had been totally working for him. Well, up until two weeks later, of course, and the damn wendigo hunt.

They were running through the woods tracking the creature, Jensen stumbling and cursing every so often in the dark, his night vision was not as good as Jared’s. Jared really needed to get the idea of just scooping the guy up in his arms and running out of his mind; wouldn’t make much difference to him but he thought that Jensen might object to being carried around like a girl. So he just curled his fingers into fists and kept running.

When they found the wendigo’s den, Jensen signalled for him to stay back; vampires and flame torches really didn’t go well together.

Jared stood at the mouth of the cave, tapping his hand impatiently on the stone wall - two minutes more and he was going in, risk of horrific flaming death be damned. Thankfully, not a minute later, a shrill cry filled the air and Jensen came back out looking dirty and a little sooty but smiling that wicked grin that really didn’t help Jared’s resolve. At All.

‘You done, Slayer? Certainly took your time, thought I was gonna have to come in there and save your ass again.’ Jared watched that bright smile falter for a moment and kicked himself for being such a bastard; it wasn’t the kid’s fault that Jared couldn’t control himself around him.

‘Yeah, well, evil creatures and fire really don’t mix so it was lucky you weren’t in there since you might have ended up as a crispy cream too.’ Jensen shot back. Jared smiled darkly, the Slayer knew that Jared hated it when he called him evil but, hey, he’d pretty much just called the kid incompetent when he was anything but, so he figured that the comment had been deserved. 

‘Whatever. Let’s head back, it’s gonna rain.’ Jared could feel it; the air was heavy with moisture and smelled wet. Jensen just nodded and followed Jared deeper into the forest, heading for the road where Jared’s bike was waiting.

Predictably, it started to rain about five minutes into the walk and rained hard. Jared felt his clothes sticking to his skin and wasn’t even going to hazard a glance back at Jensen to see how he was faring; his imagination was already throwing out enough images that went straight to his cock and he was pretty sure that they weren’t even half as good as the real thing. 

Finally, they made it out of the woods and Jared was throwing his spare helmet at Jensen and leaping onto his bike. He felt Jensen press in tightly, the kid really didn’t like riding on the bike. Jared tried desperately not to think about the fact that the Slayer, who’d just blow-torched a creature that _ate_ people, was afraid of motorbikes; it was too freaking adorable. 

Jared rode fast down the street to Jensen’s house, the sooner he dropped the boy off, the sooner he could get home and try to get the images of a dripping wet Jensen out of his head…or the sooner he could jerk off to them. He hadn’t quite decided yet. Either way, Jensen needed to be elsewhere, far away elsewhere, when he did it. 

Suddenly, a man stepped out in front of the bike and Jared slammed on the brakes sending the bike skidding across the road and the two of them almost flying over the bars; Jared grabbed Jensen at the last moment and jumped off the bike before it crashed and landed on his back with Jensen wrapped in his arms. It hurt like a son of a bitch and his back was gonna be a mess but Jensen was alright. Until he was ripped out of his arms, that was. 

Jared looked up to see the man who’d stepped into the road holding Jensen, by the throat, off the ground. And if Jensen’s panicked expression was any indication, then the bastard was strong. Jared leapt up and ran at the man crashing into his side. The man grunted but managed to keep hold of Jensen and the vicious backhand he delivered to Jared, in retaliation, found Jared back on the ground, winded more than he had been in years. The bastard really was strong; stronger than Jared and stronger than Jensen. They really needed to get out of there. 

A howl brought Jared’s head up and he saw Jensen drop down and sprint towards him whilst the man scrubbed at the holy water on his face. ‘Jared, run!’ Jensen shouted, grabbing Jared’s hand and pulling him up. Jared didn’t need to be told twice and allowed himself to be pulled up and then broke into a run behind Jensen.

They reached Jensen’s house and Jensen grabbed his hand again and pulled him across the threshold; the gesture obviously enough to act as an invitation. Jensen slammed the door shut, putting his back against it and letting his head fall back onto the wood in relief. The loud thump behind him told them that the demon couldn’t enter; it was easily strong enough to smash through the door, and Jensen, so if it hadn’t then it clearly needed an invitation to get in. Vampire probably then, a freaking old one at that.

Now that the danger seemed to have passed, Jared got his first look at Jensen since the woods. And _God_ he’d been right, the guy looked like a walking wet dream; he was still propped up against the door, his head resting against it, his eyes closed and his long, pale neck barred to Jared. There was a red horizontal line across his check, marring the smooth skin only slightly, and before Jared could stop himself, he crossed over to the Slayer and ran his thumb across he graze. 

Jensen opened his eyes to look up at Jared; they were impossibly green and wide. Beautiful. Jared swooped down and captured those, oh so full lips in a kiss; it was hungry and desperate and everything Jared had imagined it would be. He nipped at the younger man’s lips, earning him a groan as Jensen brought his hands up to Jared’s back and started to kiss him back. 

Jared pushed Jensen harder against the wooden door, licking into his mouth and finally tasting what he’d been dreaming about for the past few weeks.

A car door slamming outside brought Jared out of his lust driven haze and he pulled away to look into Jensen’s glazed eyes. He looked like sin personified, well even more so than normal, heavy lidded with red, kissed swollen lips (like those lips needed any more help in that department) and really all Jared wanted to do with lean back in and claim them again. Jared felt he deserved a freaking medal and maybe some sort of trophy when all he did was hiss ‘Jensen.’

Clearly, Jensen had been somewhat caught up in the moment and hadn’t heard his mother’s car door but it was clear by the way his eyes widened that he _had_ heard his mom and sister’s voices on the other side of the door. He grabbed Jared’s hand and pulled him towards the stairs and shoved him, somewhat unceremoniously, through a door on the left. 

‘Jesus Jared, freaking hide; I do _not_ want to be explaining to my mom why I’ve got strange men in my bedroom.’ He whispered shoving Jared towards the wardrobe. 

_Strange?_ Did he look strange? And what was with all the shoving? Jensen could have just told him to hide in the wardrobe, for pity’s sake, but he went anyway, grumbling silently in his head. As soon as the wardrobe door closed, Jared heard a soft knock at the bedroom door.

‘Jensen, Sweetie, you in there?’ The door opened. 

‘Yeah, Mom,’ Jensen answered back and if Jared thought it sounded a little breathless then he was sure that it was just his imagination. 

‘Good day at school, Honey?’ He assumed that must have Jensen nodded since he couldn’t see him, ‘Alright, you get to bed, and I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘Thanks mom.’ Jared heard the door click closed again and he opened the door to the wardrobe. ‘God, that was close.’ Jensen whispered to him. 

‘Yeah.’ Jared really didn’t have anything else to say to that one, it had been, in more ways than one. 

Then Jared noticed the faint blush rise to Jensen’s cheek as he clearly remembered the last few minutes. Five minutes ago, Jared had been ready to throw Jensen down and fuck him on the floor and now they were standing in the young man’s bedroom, awkwardly trying not to look at one another. 

‘Look Jensen...’

‘Jared I really wa...’

They both spoke at the same time and Jared winced, God, it was like a train wreck. He decided to be the mature one (he had over a hundred years more experience of relationships than Jensen after all) and carried on, 

‘Look, I’m sorry about that downstairs, it was just the adrenaline, you know, life or death situations are always kind of hot and I just…you were just….’

Jensen levelled a cold gaze at him, ‘I was just _there?_ ’

‘Yeah.’ Jared finished lamely, knowing that it wasn’t true but hoping that Jensen believed the lie. He also really hoped that he imagined the flash of hurt and disappointment he saw in Jensen’s eyes.

‘I understand.’ Jensen lowered his gaze again as his fingers found the bottom of his sleeves. ‘I’m really tired, must have been all that _adrenaline_ , I’m just gonna go to bed if you don’t mind.’ 

‘Sure, of course.’ Jared thought that they should really discuss the super charged vampire they’d just met only a few streets away from Jensen’s house but maybe now wasn’t the time. Jensen clearly wanted him gone and Jared really needed to leave before he did something that he would regret, like push Jensen down onto his bed and kiss those frowns off his face.

So he didn’t do any of that, he just walked over to the window and slid out into the night.  
  
  



	9. Chapter Nine.

** Chapter Nine. **

** Jensen. **

Jensen had told Jim about the vampire he’d encountered with Jared the night before and so he and his Watcher were patrolling the graveyard in the hopes of finding another vampire or demon that they could interrogate about it. 

Jim had suggested that he call Jared, get him to come patrolling with Jensen; it went without saying that Jared was much less squeamish about torturing demons to get answers. But there was just no way, not after last night, that Jensen was picking up the phone to call the vampire, not when his cheeks still flushed with humiliation when he thought of how easily he’d been given the brush off. 

Jensen was pulled out of the embarrassing memory by Jim tapping his shoulder and silently pointing to the trees. Jensen could hear scrambling and drew his stake, creeping silently towards the noise. Hiding behind a line of bushes, Jensen peered towards the sound to see a vampire munching down on something that looked awfully like an unconscious human body. 

Jensen threw the stake with unerring precision and it hit just below the guy’s heart, close enough to the lethal target to have the vampire turning around with a growl and giving Jensen his full attention. 

‘Aim a bit off there, Slayer?’ The vampire smirked at him.

Jensen just smiled, ‘If I’d wanted to kill you, believe me, you’d be a pile of ashes right now.’ Jensen somersaulted out from behind the bush and planted a solid kick to the man’s torso and a heavy uppercut to his chin, straddling the guy’s chest when the man went down. 

Jensen pulled out a small vial of holy water and allowed a few drops to dribble down onto the vampire’s chest, plastering a cruel smile on his face at the burning it exhibited and the pained hiss that escaped the man. Jensen knew that he had to play the part but he really didn’t get off on this part of his job, it wasn’t something he liked to do. The vampire on the floor had been a person once and no matter what he’d done since, Jensen could never forget that.

‘Right, so here’s how this is gonna go. You’re going to answer every one of my questions and I’ll stake you nice and quick.’ Jensen told the vampire; he wasn’t going to bargain with the vampire’s life, they both knew that one of them wasn’t walking away and Jensen didn’t intend that person to be him. 

‘And if I don’t?’ The creature jutted its jaw out, defiantly, even as it tried to mask the pain it was suffering from the burns on its chest.

‘Then, I’ll just have to get really, _really_ creative.’ He leaned in close to the man’s face, ‘And trust me, I’ve got a real good imagination.’ The vampire’s eyes widened for a second, betraying his fear of being trapped under the Slayer, before narrowing again and glaring up at him.

‘What do you want to know?’

‘There’s a new vampire in town, he’s old, powerful. You know anything about that?’ Jensen asked casually, knowing that there was no way this man hadn’t heard of a vampire as old as the one that Jensen had fought last night. Vampires might not show any loyalty to vampires not in their coven, if they had one, but they did tend to gravitate towards power and follow those more powerful than themselves to get an easy feed.

‘No idea what you’re talking about, Slayer.’ The vampire hissed, trying to unseat Jensen from his chest. 

‘Now how did I know you were going to say that?’ Jensen dipped his forefinger into the vial of holy water and swiped it across the sensitive skin of the vampire’s cheekbones, knowing just how painful that would be. The vampire howled as soon as Jensen’s finger made contact and was panting for breath by the time he took his finger away, leaving raw and angry skin behind. ‘Let’s try that again shall we?’

****

An hour later and Jensen’s thighs were beginning to cramp up but he had everything he needed; he had a name, an age and a part of town where the vampire was hiding out in. That was enough for Jim to hit the books and research the guy before Jensen went up against him and, hopefully, took him out.

‘Thanks for that.’ He plunged the stake down into the guy’s chest and watched the man turn to dust. He didn’t look away, he never did; Jensen had always felt that the man who had been there, before the vampire set up shop, deserved to have someone acknowledge his death. 

Jensen stood up, dusting off his jeans and walking back over to his Watcher who’d already taken the girl to the emergency room. She was going to be okay and that made Jensen feel a bit better about his little interrogation session. ‘So apparently this guy’s called the Hangman, I’m assuming that’s not the guy’s real name or else he had really mean parents. He’s been knocking around since the late 1500s according to dusty over there and he’s camping out downtown near ‘The Silver’. You heard of this guy at all in Watcher’s School?’ Jensen asked, knowing that Jim’s knowledge of all things Supernatural and gross-tastic was pretty vast.

‘The name does sound familiar and not too comforting, I have to say, but I’ll need to consult my books before we come up with a plan of action. Maybe you could ask Jared if…’

‘No.’ Jensen answered quickly and much sharper than he had intended to. That was the last thing he needed; his Watcher getting suspicious about the clusterfuck that was his growing feelings for Jared, for a _vampire._ No matter what Jim said about Jensen not being his _worst_ student, like ever, he was pretty damn sure that no other Slayer had ever had a crush on the enemy. ‘He’s out of town; he got a lead on some demon activity in Lawrence and headed out there, right after we dispatched the weres. He won’t be back until next week.’ 

Jim looked at him for a long moment but nodded and Jensen let out the breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding.

‘Alright, I’ll go back to the library tonight, hopefully I’ll have something for you tomorrow.’ Jim said, picking up his bag of weapons.

‘I can’t wait; I’m just _dying_ to go up against a badass vampire called ‘The Hangman’ because that name doesn’t sound ominous at all.’ Jensen said sarcastically but the words contained little heat; he’d faced worse before and, if he wasn’t killed by this guy, Jensen was sure he would face worse still. 

‘Jensen.’ Jim warned.

‘I know, I know, I’m just kidding.’ He held his hands up in surrender to the old man, letting a smile grace his face, ‘I’ll finish up patrolling tonight and check in with you tomorrow.’ Jim nodded and walked back to his car where it was parked outside the graveyard as Jensen turned back to do his job. 

****

So this guy was a bit of a psycho, even more so than your average demon, according to Jim’s research. He liked to keep his victims locked up for days in the dark, a noose around their necks, not knowing when the fatal drop was going to come and feeding off them bit by bit until it did. Stories said that he was once the Grand Executioner in Henry VIII’s Court and had loved his job just a little too much and that evil had magnified once his soul was tainted by his vampire blood.

Unfortunately for Jensen, that probably meant that there would be victims in the warehouse that needed saving and had suddenly become his priority over killing the guy. He just didn’t need that extra distraction considering how old this guy was; Jensen was going to have a hard enough time fighting him as it was without figuring rescuees into the equation.

One good thing that Jim had been able to tell him, it was pretty much the only thing that would work in Jensen’s favour, was that the guy was much more interested in torturing his victims than capturing them so he sent of all his minions off to bring him more victims. So Jensen might only have a couple of vampires to deal with before he got to ‘The Hangman’.

****

So there Jensen was, crouched in the dark, with the heat sensor Jim had given him, trying to locate the victims of ‘The Hangman’ in the huge warehouse before him. Looking at the screen, he noticed four heat signatures, not vampires since they ran cold and weren’t picked up unless they’d just fed and even then it was such a faint trace that it was easy to tell them apart from humans. He silently made his way towards the bodies, crossbow in hand, hoping to get the people out before he had to use it. 

Jensen came to a steel door and held up the heat sensor, yep, this was where the people were and he slowly opened the door. Something rushed at him but he ducked out of the way before it connected, falling back on his haunches and raising his weapon at the thing that had attacked him. Sharp teeth were all he needed to see and he let a bolt fly, turning the creature to dust. 

Jensen heard whimpering behind him and saw four people standing on boxes, each with a noose around their necks and bite marks littering their skin, looking terrified. There was a fifth body hanging lifeless next to them, the throat ripped out, clearly there to show the others their eventual fate. Jensen shivered and walked over to the captives placing a finger over his lips; he couldn’t risk ‘The Hangman’ knowing that he was here before he had managed to get these people out. Jensen knew he wouldn’t get them all out if that was the case.

Jensen quickly unbound all their hands and slipped the nooses from their necks, helping each of them step down from the boxes. He led them back, the way he’d come, to the entrance he’d fashioned in the side of the building and outside to where Jim was waiting to take them back to the library to fix them up. Jensen nodded to his Watcher as he handed each of the victims over and turned to walk back inside.

Jensen felt calmer, knowing that all he needed to focus on was the vampire and getting out of this warehouse alive. He and Jim had discussed the merits of all the weapons Jim owned in facing ‘The Hangman’ but they both decided that hand to hand was probably Jensen’s best bet; this guy probably hadn’t had to fight anyone in years since he had vampires to find his victims and a five hundred year old vampire would rarely challenged by his own kind. 

Jensen just hoped that his skill and speed could outmatch the vampire superior strength and experience.

Jensen had left his crossbow outside with Jim, it was too cumbersome to carry around when he had no idea where ‘The Hangman’ was; he needed to be focused on his surroundings rather than worrying whether his weapon was going to be torn from his grasp at any moment. 

A movement to the left had Jensen dropping to one knee and throwing one of his stakes right into the chest of the vampire, it exploded before it could even utter a sound of warning to alert its master.

Not that it was needed, ‘So we meet again, boy, but without your vampire protector this time.’ Jensen bristled; he didn’t need Jared for anything and he certainly didn’t need to be thinking about the man right then. ‘Are you the one who took my pretty little playthings? You should know, I greatly dislike people touching my things.’ The vampire was in front of his face in a second, moving much faster than even Jensen’s Slayer enhanced eyesight could follow and Jensen’s breath caught in his throat. 

Before he let the vampire get its teeth any closer to his neck Jensen brought his hand up and shoved it hard into the man’s solar plexus and back flipped twice to put some much needed distance between him and his opponent. Enough for him to arm himself and get ready for the next attack.

Sinister laughter wove through the air, chilling his insides, ‘A Slayer, then. I was not sure last night whether you were simply a misguided fool out to save then world, or a Slayer.’ He chuckled, ‘Oh this will be so much more fun that you are; I have met a few Slayers in my time. And I’ll let you in on a little secret, boy, I have killed them all.’ Jensen’s eyes widened, if this creature had killed Slayers then he was probably much more powerful than Jensen and Jim had guessed. Jensen could feel his heart beat start to quicken as the possibility that he truly might not get out of this one alive crossed his mind. ‘Do not look so surprised, Slayer, I am over 600 years old, and I have needed something to entertain myself with all those years.’ It grinned at him, its sharp teeth glinting in the low light.

Jensen rolled his eyes, trying to pull on the last bit of confidence he had, if he was going out tonight, he wasn’t going out cowering like a little girl, ‘If you’re all done sharing and caring with me, can we please get to the fighting, you’re making me feel nauseous over here.’

Pain drilled down his back as it met the metal wall of the warehouse. Ow, God that felt like he’d been hit with a fucking battering ram, and he struggled to get back to his feet as the vampire strolled, yes _strolled,_ the smug bastard, over to him. ‘That’s the problem with kids today, no patience and no damn respect.’ Jensen felt himself pulled off the ground by strong fingers around his neck; Jensen’s feet scrabbled on the ground, trying to find purchase as he struggled to breathe, and his hands clawed at the unyielding fingers around his neck.

‘But you’ll learn, Slayer, you’ll learn.’

****

Jensen awoke with his hands chained together in what looked like a pair of manacles from the middle ages, fuck, they probably _were_ from the middle ages. And Jesus they were soldered onto his hands, he was going to need Jim’s help with those when he got out of there…if…no, when…he was _so_ getting out of there. 

Jensen wouldn’t become another name on this guy’s tally sheet, the bastard had killed enough Slayers and that hit a nerve with Jensen; he might not have known any of those that had gone before him but they were all bound by what they were; it was like the guy had killed his brothers and sisters. And the bastard was proud of it; yeah, Jensen was taking him down. 

Jensen’s eyes followed the manacles to a thick metal chain that linked the manacles to the floor, again it looked like it was pretty permanent without the use of some heavy duty machinery.

The only good thing he could see about his capacity was the fact that the guy had manacled his hands in front of his body and not behind which made the likelihood of his escape boost from impossible to extremely unlikely. It was a step up at least. Jensen moved his head to look around the room and his stomach bottomed out when he felt rope rub against his bare skin, no fucking way, he had a noose around his neck; and could that be creepier? He just needed to think of a plan that involved not having to use any of his limbs…easy.

‘You’re awake Slayer, good, wouldn’t want you to sleep through this now.’ And suddenly Jensen was falling, not far, but the platform under his legs was gone. He gasped and writhed against the rope around his neck for endless moments until he felt a strong hand on his shoulder pull him back up and place his legs back down on the box. He choked and gasped now that he could, the noose hanging loose again around his neck. Jensen could understand how fear got to people before their necks broke, the feeling of helplessness had been terrifying and Jensen was sure that the experience was going to add to his nightmare bank when he got out.

A sharp pain at the side of his neck had him crying out and he realised that the bastard was feeding on him. Jensen had never been bitten before and he could feel the blood being sucked from his body. Just as he began to feel light headed and thought he might pass out again, ‘The Hangman’ drew back, ‘Ah! There really is nothing like Slayer blood. And the fear, that only makes it taste all the sweeter. I think I’ll keep you around for a while, Slayer, you are definitely the tastier little thing I’ve had in at least a century.’ He licked the last drops of blood from Jensen neck before turning and leaving the room, banging the steel door behind him. 

Jensen’s breathing was quick and shallow, still reeling from the fact that he’d just been bitten, the very idea sending shudders of shame and nausea through him. Lifting his head, he shook it, ignoring the pain at that radiated from his open wound as it rubbed against the rope. Jensen just needed to think, hopefully the vampire wouldn’t be back for a little while, he had said he wanted to keep Jensen around so that had to mean that he wouldn’t feed again within the next couple of hours, right? Even Jensen’s Slayer body couldn’t take being fed off several times in as many hours. Didn’t mean the guy wouldn’t come back to torture him though. 

Jensen catalogued everything he had on him; stake, cross, holy water, lighter, silver knife, iron blade, flare…that was it, Jensen smiled, he had a plan.

****

Sometime later, probably about three hours by Jensen’s reckoning, the door to the room opened again and his captor walked back in. ‘Ready for round two, Slayer? I would not normally work a toy so hard but since you took away my other playthings, I am forced to make do with just you. But you are a Slayer so you can surely withstand a little more playtime than the others.’ That was all the warning that Jensen received before his shirt was torn away and a lash fell across his back.

He cried out as the tendrils licked across the bare skin of his back, and again every time the lash was brought back down. Twenty lashes later and again he was teetering on the edges of consciousness, his back on fire, but he was jolted back to awareness by the floor giving way and dropping him down again. He was held there for less time than before and was soon being dragged back up struggling and yelling. 

Jensen could hear ‘The Hangman’ laughing at his struggles, enjoying the pain that Jensen was sure was written in every move of his body, in every line of his face. The feel of sharp teeth breaking the already torn skin of his neck was excruciating and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t black out yet. A few moments later, he was glad he hadn’t.

‘What? What is this?’ The vampire stumbled away from him, letting Jensen’s body fall heavily in its chains, his legs only just being able to hold him up.

Jensen did manage to paste a smirk on his face though, it might have been an act, but his fellow Slayers deserved for this bastard to see that he had beaten despite his arrogance. Jensen held up a small vial, labelled Holy Water, in front of the vampire’s face, as it contorted and steamed before him, clutching at its own neck, ‘Kids today; never know what they’ve been drinking.’ Jensen watched with immense satisfaction as the vampire dropped to its knees, yelling and writhing on the floor before bursting into a cloud of dust.

_At least, Jensen knew the vampire’s plans for him now; he would torture and feed on Jensen until his body finally gave out under the strain. Surprisingly, that worked in Jensen’s favour actually, considering the rough and really far out plan he’d managed to come up with. It was the best he had, with the little armoury he had on him and the little mobility his position afforded._

_Jensen worked his bound hands as close to his pocket as he could get them and finally, after a few aborted attempts, managed to close his hand around the small vial. Quickly, he lifted the vial to his lips and drank all the liquid down, knowing that he’d only get one chance at this; he might as well make it count. There was no way he was getting out of the warehouse if this plan didn’t work, not chained up like he was right then. He just hoped it would be enough._

Jensen grabbed his cell phone from his front pocket, much in the same way he had retrieved the holy water and pressed ‘1’ on it. He put the device on loud speaker, he had nowhere near enough energy to hold the damn thing to his ear right then.

‘Jensen?’ The tinny voice echoed through the now empty room. 

‘Jim. It’s done, the vamp’s toast.’

‘Well done, Jensen. Are you outside already?’

‘Um no. I’m in one of the rooms off the back, it’s got a huge metal door, looks a little like a meat storage locker you can’t miss it.’

‘Alright I’m on my way Jensen, hang tight.’

No problem there. ‘Um, Jim, bring the blow torch.’

****

The fight with ‘The Hangman’ had really brought Jensen’s mortality back to the forefront of his mind. Over the last few weeks of arriving in Sunnydale, he’d been too busy with his new friends, hiding his secret, getting back into training and worrying about a certain tall, dark haired someone to think about it. But hearing how that vampire had killed not one, but _several_ , Slayers really made him think about how fleeting his time could be. 

As Jensen looked in the mirror at the dark burn around his neck, he promised himself that, if all he had left on his Earth was a few more years, he’d damn well make the most of them and live in the moment whenever he could.  
  
  



	10. Chapter Ten.

** Chapter Ten. **

** Jensen. **

'Hey Jensen.'

'Hey David, how you doing?' David sat next to Jensen in their English Literature class. 

The other boy shuffled his feet, 'Um, I'm good, I was…uh…wondering if you wanted to catch a movie with me on Saturday.'

To say Jensen was stunned would be an understatement. 'Sure.' His answer surprised him even more, _God_ , Jim was gonna be pissed. But, Hell, Jensen gave up every other night to save the world; he could have one night off without it causing the End of Days. And he’d keep David away from any cemeteries or funeral homes or places where dead bodies liked to rise from the dead. 'That sounds great.'

David beamed down at him, 'Cool, I'll pick you up at 7, at yours?'

'Yeah, sounds good.' He gave David his own toothy grin and waved as he went to beg his Watcher for his first night off in forever.

****

'JIM!' Jensen called out as he walked into the library. The old guy was probably somewhere deep in the stacks, buried in a book on zombies or ghouls or whatever. 

‘Jensen, don't you know libraries are meant to be quiet?' The man raised both eyebrows at him, reprimand written all over his face.

'Oh sorry. I'll be sure to keep quiet for _all_ the other people in here, oh wait, there are _never_ any other people in here.' Jensen smirked at his Watcher as Jim rolled his eyes at him. 

'Not the point, Jensen. Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure of this rather loud visit.' Jim asked, flicking through the book in his hand, clearly only giving Jensen half of his attention. That could work for Jensen, actually, catch the man off guard a little when he asked. 

'Um…I was just thinking…you know that they say if you work all the time you start getting burnt-out.' Jensen knew that he was bullshitting and from Jim's raised eyebrow, the guy wasn't buying his argument either. Okay, different tack then, Jensen had a couple at the ready. ‘I work every night and I was thinking that maybe I should have a night off…sort of…maybe?' He looked up hopefully at his Watcher. 

'That sounds like a great idea, Jensen.' Jensen beamed, score one for the Slayer. 'We'll get you caught up on some research; we can stay here all night and order pizza. Sound fun?' Um…how about no? 

'No, I…uh I meant a night off from _all_ my Slayer-ness.'

'Oh. Right. I'll just send out a memo to all the demons that the Slayer needs a time out and they have to stay at home.' Jim replied, his hand still turning the pages of his book.

‘Sarcasm aside, that would be awesome.' Jensen quipped. 'Come on, Jim, I haven't had a night off since I agreed to this deal, knowing full well that I would get to have no life, no future and have to deal with lots and lots of dead bodies and blood.' He knew that he was laying it on a little thick but he kind of liked David. _'Please_ , it's just one night, you _must_ have something you want to do that my Slay-age always waylays.' _Waylays?_ Christ, he was spending way too much time with Jim. One more reason why he needed to go on this date.

Jim put his hands up in a placating gesture, 'Alright, alright, no need to beg, boy. You get one night, but you take a stake and holy water wherever you go. Just because you've got the night off doesn't mean the Supernatural won't still come after you.'

'D'uh.’ Of course, he was going to be armed, he always was. But he smiled warmly at his Watcher anyway, ‘Thanks Jim.' 

Jensen was out the door a moment later but he still managed to catch the muttered, ‘Damn teenagers.'

****

'I've got a date.' Jensen announced as he sat down at the cafeteria table with Danneel, Chris and Misha. 

Misha promptly spat his burger across the table at Jensen, who narrowly avoided being covered in half masticated cow. 'YOU WHAT?'

'Um…I've got a date?' That was a way more vehement reaction than he had expected from his friend; they were supposed to be happy for him right? 

'Who is it, Jen? I wanna know who it is.' Misha asked quickly, staring hard at him from across the table. 

'Meesh, calm down. I don't know what you're worried about, it's just David from Lit. and I'm pretty sure he's not a demon, okay?' Jensen placed a reassuring hand on Misha's shoulder and felt his friend relax under his palm; it was kind of nice for someone to be protective of him for a change.

Danneel smirked at them and Jensen really didn't get what that was about nor the glare that Misha shot her way. 'Oh David, he's hot and he's really smart. Good for you Jen, where are you two going?'

'Just the movies, I kind of want to keep it inside where none of my...‘clients’ will see me.' Jensen sent a sideways glance over to the next table, making sure that he hadn’t been overheard.

‘That just makes you sound like a hooker, Jensen.' Chris said, matter-of-factly, as he took another sip of his coke.

'Why thanks Chris, that's _totally_ what I was going for.' Jensen rolled his eyes at Chris, crude as ever. 'Well, I've got my first night off in, like, forever and I'm gonna enjoy it. No work for one whole night. And David's a pretty cool guy, actually.' He blushed slightly.

'I don't like him.'

‘What a shock.' Danneel mumbled into her mashed potato. Jensen raised an eyebrow and looked at Misha.

'Why not?'

'Just don't. Total kiss-ass and…and have you noticed that he wears odd socks to gym, how weird is that?' Jensen laughed and clapped his friend on the back.

'Buddy, in my life, that really doesn't even register on my weird scale.' Then again most things that normal teenagers worried about at school didn't make it onto Jensen’s weird scale either.

'Still don't like him.' Misha mumbled sullenly, it was an unusual look for him and made him look more like a five year old than the 17 year old that he was.

Danneel seemed to decide that it was time to steer the conversation in a different direction. 'What about Jared?' Jensen just wished she’d steered it someplace else.

'What about him?' Jensen said, trying to sound nonchalant about the gorgeous, dark haired vampire who he dreamed about pretty much every night.

'Well, I thought you liked him.' Danneel pushed.

'He doesn't want me so I'm not gonna go where I'm not wanted, Danni.' Jensen might not have a whole lot of pride but he had enough not to throw himself at someone who had made it perfectly clear that he didn’t want him.

'Jen...' Danneel started. 

'No Danneel, Jensen's right, if Jared doesn't want him then he doesn't deserve him.' Misha interrupted and nodded at Jensen. 

'Thanks Meesh. Anyway, I’ve got to go. I've got next period free and I need to run to the mall and buy some new clothes that, you know, don't have blood or brains stained into them. See you later guys.' He ran off and didn't hear the conversation his friends continued once he was gone.

****

** Danneel. **

'Misha, come on, you’ve got to get over this, he's your friend and I'm pretty sure that's all he's ever going to be.' Misha had been her best friend since they were in kindergarten and she really couldn’t see his crush ending well, for either Misha or Jensen. Jensen might pretend he was moving on from Jared but Danneel knew better. Also, Danneel had seen the way that Jared looked at Jensen and ‘not interested’ was not how she would describe it.

'I'm wearing him down, Danneel; he'll see we are perfect for each other eventually.’ Misha answered, with the same optimism that he approached all of the challenges in his life.

'Right, as soon as he's gone out with _every_ other guy in the school, Misha.' Chris interjected. 

'Look, no one else will ever know him like I do; he'll see that soon enough.' Misha reasoned, that _was_ probably true and was the only thing that worked in Misha’s favour when it came to a relationship with Jensen.

'What about Jared? He knows everything about Jen too,' Danneel asked.

'Well, he clearly won't _do_ anything about it ‘cause he's an idiot and his loss is my incredible gain!'

'Meesh, I really don't...'

'No. Look, I really don't want to talk about this anymore, I know what I want and I'm sure it'll all work out in the end.' Danneel just gave him a sympathetic look knowing that her friend was going to get hurt. Not that Jensen would ever hurt Misha intentionally, but she knew that Jensen didn't see Misha like that and the idea that Misha wanted him had probably never even crossed the young Slayer's mind. Chris just shook his head as he ate his burger. 

****

****

** Jensen. **

Saturday night rolled around and Jensen was wearing a pair of tight black jeans and a black dress shirt. His hair was styled to give him that bed hair look that guys seemed to like. He had a stake secured in a holster around his shin where his pants flared out to cover it and a vial of holy water strapped to his other ankle. Jensen felt good, his sister even gave him her mark of approval and said that he looked hot so he'd go with that. 

At 7 o’clock, the doorbell rang and Jensen raced down the stairs before his mum could answer it and intentionally embarrass the Hell out of him. He opened the door a little too enthusiastically and felt the blush rise to his cheeks, 'Hey, David.'

'Hi Jensen, you look great.'

Jensen smiled a little at that, the blush on his cheeks deepening, 'Thanks, you too.' David grinned widely and held out his hand. 

'You ready to go?'

'Yep, all set.' He took David's hand and was led out to a black polo that was parked in front of his house. It was a nice car and Jensen was impressed. It wasn't Jared's bike but it was a nice car for a high school student. 

'So I was thinking that we could go and see that new Scream movie. I'm sure it's gonna be pretty lame but crap horror movies are always good for a laugh?' David suggested as he opened Jensen’s car door, waiting for him to climb in, before closing it behind him. David then got into the driver’s seat himself. 

'Definitely, I was totally planning on seeing that.' Jensen replied, he hadn't really been since he didn’t have any spare time outside training, patrolling and studying but, Hell, if were a _normal_ teenager, then he was pretty that sure he would have been planning to see it. Also, he kind of liked planning how he'd take out the bad guy in these movies.

They talked about school, their teachers and classes on the way to the movie theatre. David bought the tickets and a huge box of popcorn to share; really the guy was cute and Jensen was more glad than ever that Jim had given him the night off. 

They laughed and whispered throughout the movie; they'd been right, the thing was a pile of crap but Jensen really did enjoy himself. He even liked it when David, not so subtly, put his arm around him half way through the picture and whispered right into his ear; the warm puffs of air sending shivers down his spine. It was definitely the best date he'd been on in years. 

The movie ended and they walked back out to David's car. It was getting late and Jensen didn't want to have to deal with any shit that would either try to kill David or, at least, scare him off Jensen for life. So Jensen told him that he had an 11 o’clock curfew, even though he didn't, and David drove him home. God, the guy even walked him to the freaking door. 

'Jensen...I...' David reached out and placed his palm against Jensen's cheek and leaned down to kiss him. Jensen closed his eyes and waited, but the soft brush of lips never came. He opened his eyes again, only to see David being held against the wall, with a large hand pressed against his chest.

'JARED! What the hell are you doing?' He shouted.

'Who the fuck is this Jensen?' Jared snarled, his eyes not leaving David, who was pushing, ineffectually, at the vampire’s hand.

'Jared, put him down _right_ now.' The warning was so clear that they had probably heard it over in England. Jared finally met his eyes and did as Jensen asked, letting the boy slide down the wall.

Jensen ran over and picked David up. 'Oh God, Dave are you okay? I'm so sorry, this is my psycho...cousin, he's a real asshole, he's only visiting for the weekend. I'm really sorry. I had a great time tonight.' Jensen rushed the words out, desperately hoping that the bastard vampire hadn't ruined his first chance at a relationship in years.

'It's okay, Jensen.' David said, somewhat shakily. 'I'd really like to do this again.' Jensen heard a low growl behind him but resolutely ignored it. He’d deal with Jared after he’d gotten David on his way.

'Yeah, me too, maybe we can go out for dinner next time?'

'Great, Jen, see you Monday.' He gave Jensen a quick peck on the cheek and all but ran to his car without looking at Jared. Jensen waved slightly as the boy drove away. 

Jensen spun round and shoved Jared, hard. 'What the hell were you thinking?'

Jared crossed his arms across his chest and glared at him. 'I might ask you the same thing?'

'I was on a date, asshole; you may be two hundred years old, or what-the-fuck-ever, but you do know what a date is right?' Jensen shouted back, how dare Jared ruin such a great night?

Jared narrowed his eyes, 'You know you can't have a relationship with him.'

It wasn't even a question, it was a statement. Like Jared had some sort of right to tell Jensen what to do. Well, screw that. 'I can and I will, Jared, so get your nose out of my fucking business.'

Jared smiled darkly at that, 'So he knows who you are then? He knows what you do at night, he knows the danger?'

Jensen jaw clenched as Jared brought his own doubts to the fore. 'No and he's never going to.'

'Wow, that's one healthy relationship you got going there, Slayer?' Jared mocked. Jensen stared at Jared for a moment, then dropped his eyes. The fact that Jared was right took the fight out of him, leaving him feeling hollow and sad.

'Well it's better than no relationship at all,' Jensen said quietly, Jared's words hitting him harder than he had that thought they would. He raised his eyes again, 'No one else fucking wants me Jared but _he_ does, for some reason, he really does and maybe…' He sighed. 'Maybe one day I'll be able to tell him, and he'll think it's worth it, think _I'm_ worth it.' He could feel the tears prickling at the backs of his eyes as he turned and ran into the house, slamming the door behind him.  
  



	11. Chapter Eleven.

** Chapter Eleven. **

　  
 **Jared.**

Jared got home and threw his leather jacket on his bed, God, he'd been such an asshole. He swung at the punch-bag hanging from the ceiling and held it as he bounced back. Did Jensen really believe that no one wanted him? How had he screwed this up so badly? Jared had just gone over to watch him, like he did most nights, but when he'd seen that boy touch Jensen it was like something broke inside him. He just couldn't bear the idea of Jensen being with someone else. 

Jared knew that it was unfair; he’d pretty much told Jensen himself that he didn’t want them to be together but it wasn't because of who _Jensen_ was, it was because of what _he_ was. Jared needed to make it up to the Slayer and he grabbed his coat and walked out into the night.

****

** Jensen. **

Jensen threw himself down on his bed, clutching his pillow tight as he cried into it. Why didn't he get to have one thing? One thing that was his, was that really too much to ask? After all the horrors he had to see, why couldn't he just have someone to come home to? Someone to comfort him through the nightmares, through the losses? Jensen’s breath hitched and he buried his face deeper into the pillow; the last thing he needed was his mom coming in and asking him what was wrong. 

Jensen felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped off the bed, grabbing the stake from his shin holster, to look at his visitor. 

'Jared?' He put the stake down and looked down, quickly wiping his face, hoping that the vampire didn't notice his red eyes and wet cheeks. 'What're you doing here?'

** Jared ** _._

Jared's heart had broken when he saw Jensen through the window, curled in on himself; he could hear him crying. He'd done that and now he had to fix it.

'Jen. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean what I said, it wasn't fair.' Jared said softly, resisting the urge to wrap the Slayer up in his arms.

'You were right, he doesn't know what I am.' Jensen's breath hitched. 'I just wanted to be seventeen for once, you know. I…I just wanted someone to love me.' He finished quietly, playing with the edge of his duvet.

'Oh Jen,' Jared pulled Jensen to him. 'There are plenty of people who love you.' He kissed Jensen on the top of the head before he could stop himself, as he felt Jensen bury his face in his neck.

'But not the one person I want.' Jensen whispered into his neck. Jared clenched his jaw; did he deny it and hurt his Slayer more? Or did he tell him the truth and hurt him when they could never be together?

'Jensen, I...'

'Jensen, honey.' There was a knock on his door and Jared pulled away so quickly that Jensen nearly toppled over. Jensen’s mom opened the door as Jared disappeared into the night, 'Are you ok, Sweetie, did something happen?'

** Jensen ** _._

'No, nothing mom, I had a great time, I was just…listening to a really sad song, silly really.' 

His mom smiled, 'Alright, hon, as long as you're okay, get some sleep, it's late.' Jensen nodded and when she was gone, he looked out the window to see if Jared had waited, he hadn't. That hurt more than if the vampire hadn't come back at all. Setting his jaw, Jensen locked his window, hopefully conveying the message that Jared wasn't welcome anymore.  
  



	12. Chapter Twelve.

** Chapter Twelve. **

 

** Jensen. **

'So how was it?' Danneel asked him by his locker the next day.

'It was great Danni, David’s a great guy.' Jensen replied with a weak smile, it felt wrong that even though he had had a great time with David, he fell asleep crying about another guy.

'What happened Jen, something's wrong.' She asked, clearly concerned by his sombre attitude.

'Jared turned up and basically assaulted David.' Danni gasped, 'And then he proceeded to tell me that I'll never have a relationship, ever, and even if I did then none of it would be real since they could never know who I really am. So he basically told me that I'll be alone forever.' Jensen felt last night's tears making a re-appearance, he blinked them back and told a couple of deep breaths. 

** Danneel. **

'That bastard.' Danneel was normally in Jared's camp, she knew that the vampire loved Jensen, that all-consuming love that everyone looks for, but he just needed to get his head out of his ass and let Jensen make some of his own decisions. 

But this was too much, Jared had hurt her best friend and that was just not acceptable. 'Screw him, you know he's wrong Jensen; there’ll be someone out there for you. Look at us, we know the truth and we still love you.' She hugged him. 

'Thanks Danni.' He still looked so sad, and Danneel was so getting out her stash of the holy water the next time she saw Jared. 

** Jensen. **

****

'Jensen.' David ran down the corridor and gave Jensen another peck on the cheek. Jensen smiled at him, and even though they probably weren't going to last, Jensen really wanted some comfort right then and David was a really great guy.

'Hi Dave, I'm really sorry about last night.'

'It's alright, your cousin’s a bit weird though, super strong too.' Jensen laughed nervously, the guy had no idea. 

'Yeah, we don't see him all that often, thank God, as I said, total asshole.'

'Um, I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch outside with me in the quad.'

'Yeah, I'd really like that.' Jensen answered immediately, feeling some of the hollowness in his chest ebb away at the sight of David’s eager smile. 

'Great!' David planted another kiss on Jensen lips. 'See you then.' He walked off with a definite spring in his step.

'I like him, Jen, I think he'll be good for you.' The _'unlike a certain vampire'_ was left unsaid but they both heard it. 

'Yeah, I think so too. Thanks Danni. See you in Math okay?' He walked off to History.

****

David and Jensen decided to walk back from the restaurant but Jensen still tensed as they had to pass the graveyard. ‘ _Nothing’s going to happen, nothing’s going to happen,’_ he repeated silently in his head. But of course, because the world hated Jensen, he heard a growl behind him.

'Shit!' He whispered. 

'What is it Jen?' David squeezed Jensen's hand. 

'Um, I think I left my wallet back at the restaurant, would you mind going back to get it for me?' Jensen asked, hoping that would give him enough time to dispatcher their would-be attacker.

'Um sure, you wanna wait here?' David seemed confused that they couldn't go together, but was polite enough not to say anything.

'Yeah, see you in a bit, I'm just gonna sit down for a bit.' Jensen moved to the bench by the entrance of the graveyard. David walked off just as a vamp jumped the fence of the graveyard. 

'NO!' Jensen shouted as the vampire pushed David hard against a tree and his boyfriend went down, knocked out. He ran over, 'No no nonononono, David, _please_ , not again.' Tears filled his eyes as his trembling hands scrambled over the boy's body trying to get him to wake up. Suddenly he was pulled off the floor and launched into the air. Jensen landed hard against a marble headstone.

Wincing, he got back up and faced the vampire head on. Jensen breathed slowly, pushing thoughts of his hurt (possibly dead) boyfriend out of his mind and focused on what he was born to do. His moves were fast and efficient and the vampire was dusted in minutes. 

Jensen ran back over to David who hadn't moved at all during the fight.

'Jensen?' Jensen looked up through tear filled eyes to see Jared standing over him. 'Jensen, he's alive, he'll be okay. I can hear his heartbeat, he's just knocked out.'

'Just knocked out?! What person goes on a date and gets knocked out at the end of it instead of getting a goodnight kiss. I'll tell you who - the crazy bastard who dates Jensen Ackles. God what was I thinking? I can't have this, I can't put him at risk like this.' Jensen put his head in his hands, kneeling on the floor and wept for his lonely life.

'Jensen, I'm sorry.'

'Why are _you_ sorry? This is what you told me right? You told me that I couldn't have this, couldn’t have anyone. You know I take care of so many people, why can't I have someone to take of me for once? Huh?' His voice was getting more hysterical with every word he uttered.

'Jen...'

'Just...don't. Leave it Jared, I know exactly what you're going to say and I can't take anymore tonight. I need to get my soon-to-be ex-boyfriend home and make sure that he doesn't die from the concussion I got him.' Jensen picked David up and put one arm round his shoulder and half carried, half dragged him home. Jensen could probably have picked him up but he thought that would have been a little hard to explain if David had woken up half way through the trip. 

****

Jensen had stayed with David all night, waking him up every hour before letting him go back to sleep. He left in the morning, around six, letting David's mom take over his care and went home to shower and change. 

Jensen got to school and found his friends waiting by his locker, clearly eager to know how his second date went. The dark bags under his eyes and the paleness of his face obviously told them that something was off and they ran over to him before he even made it to his locker. 

'Jen, what happened, was it Jared again? I'll fucking kill him.' Danneel hissed vehemently.

'No, not really. We got jumped by a vampire and he knocked David out pretty good. Jesus, guys, I thought he was dead.' He ran a hand through his hair. 'And then Jared showed up and it just hammered home everything he'd said. He was right, I can't have a boyfriend; I could have gotten David killed last night and it was only our second date.'

Danneel looked stricken, Chris looked more sympathetic than Jensen had even seen him look, no hint of a smirk anywhere, and Misha just hugged him and told him that he would always have them. Jensen loved his friends but today was gonna be hard. 

'Jensen.' He looked up to see David, sporting a rather magnificent black eye, walking over to him.

'Hey David, how are you feeling?'

'A little groggy, a little fuzzy, but alright. What happened last night?' He answered in a carefree tone, not knowing how close he had come to dying the night before. He just didn’t belong in Jensen’s world and that thought really hurt.

'We got mugged; they jumped you and then ran off. I took you home.' It was almost true, except for the mugging part. 

'Oh right, well thanks then. I still had a great time, before the unconsciousness obviously.' He smiled that winning smile at Jensen and it just about broke his heart. 'How about we do it again on Saturday?'

'David, I'm really sorry I can't.' Jensen’s voice broke slightly at the end, he hoped that David didn’t notice.

David's smile fell instantly, 'What? Why? Was it something I did?'

'God, no David, you're amazing, I just don't have room in my life right now for a relationship and you deserve someone who can give you the time you deserve.'

'I understand but I'll still be here, Jen, if you change your mind okay, ‘cause I think you're wonderful.' He kissed Jensen on the cheek and walked away. 

Jensen felt his knees buckle under him but Misha and Danneel were there, ready to carry him to the nearest bench and sit with him while he cried into Danneel’s shoulder.

 


	13. Chapter Thirteen.

** Chapter Thirteen. **

** Jensen. **

Jensen threw himself into training and patrolling in a way that he never had before. He needed something to distract his mind from the overwhelmingly depressing idea that no one would ever want him and he was destined to end up alone, before he inevitably ended up dead obviously. 

As soon as school let out, he went to the gym and started practicing his routine, throwing his knives, running laps, doing push ups and sit ups until he needed to go on patrol a few hours later. He patrolled later than he normally did, staying out into the early hours of the morning; he barely made time to eat, missing whole meals altogether. 

Jensen knew that his friends were worried about him and Jim kept shooting him concerned glances but he just told them that he was fine. 

He wasn’t fine. Jensen knew that he was exhausted, but he needed this; he needed to keep pushing himself, he needed to make himself better, faster. He might not be able to control anything else in his fucked up life but he could control this. 

A month after he’d ended things with David, Jensen woke up with a blinding headache; the light burned his eyes and there was a dull, rhythmic thumping in his head every time he moved. He felt dizzy and sick as he dragged himself to school. 

'Jen, are you okay?' Danneel asked, her voice sounded so far away that Jensen barely heard it. 

'Yeah, I'm fine.' He rasped out his default answer and walked off to his first class. 

Between his first and second period he ran to the bathroom and threw up the remains of his dinner the night before. Somehow he made it through the rest of the day and out to the track to start running his laps. Jensen gave up halfway through when he doubled over and threw up the bottle of water he’d drunk at the start. 

So, Jensen decided to go out on patrol early, it was nearing twilight anyway; the nasties would be out soon enough. 

His movements were a clumsy and ill-timed but he could do this and he would – what else was he good for anyway? 

****

'Jared, is that you?'

'Uh, yeah, this is Jared.' Jared answered the unknown voice on the other end of the line. 

'This is Danneel, Jensen's friend; we’ve only met a couple of time. I stole your number from his phone, and I really wouldn't be ringing you if this wasn’t an emergency but…'

Jared shot up, 'What's happened? Is Jensen alright?' Dread filled his heart; he’d been avoiding Jensen since the blow up with the kid’s boyfriend; he’d been trying to give the Slayer some space and himself some distance. Unfortunately, the distance hadn’t really done all that much to change or diminish his feelings for Jensen.

But if Jensen’s friend was calling him then that could only mean…no...he knew Slayers died young, but not Jensen...it couldn’t be Jensen. 

'Oh, now you care, asshole? And no, he's not alright, and he hasn't been for a while. You know, when you first came along I was totally rooting for you ‘cause you made Jen happy, I could see how he felt about you even before he did, but all you've brought him since then is pain and you really don't deserve him. This Slayer gig is a pretty crappy deal as it is, he certainly didn’t need you drilling it into him that he’s going to have to do it alone.’ She paused for a moment, clearly gathering herself to tell him why she had really called, Jared was sure it wasn’t just to tear him a new one. 

‘But... I don't have anyone else to call who I think he'll listen to. We've all tried but it's really bad now - he's gone patrolling and he's sick, Jared, I mean really sick and I don't know what'll happen…Jared?' Jared was already running out the door.

****

The three? four? vampires in front of Jensen were blurring in and out of focus, huh, maybe there were just two, he couldn't really tell. Jensen swung his left arm out but missed his target entirely and fell face first in the dirt. Jensen could hear them laughing as he struggled to get back to his feet.

‘This is the great Slayer we've heard about? Maybe this is his stand-in and the real one's got a day off.'

'Fuck you!' Jensen slurred and brought his stake up meaning to bury it in one of the vampire's chests. But through the haze in his head, he felt the stake being tugged from his grip and then a white hot pain in his side. He looked down to see the stake embedded in his stomach. 'Oh!' And he went down on his knees holding his side. There was so much blood and he could feel the pain lancing through his body as he hit the ground.

Jensen heard a commotion around him but he couldn't focus enough to lift his hands from his stomach. 

'Jensen! Oh God, Jen, can you hear me?' Jensen dragged his head up, away from his blood stained hands and saw Jared close to his face. 

'Jared? Jay,' he slurred, 'I...I think I'm hurt.'

'Yeah, you are, come on, let’s get you back to mine and I'll get you sorted out.' Jared pulled Jensen up into his arms and began to run back to his apartment.

**Jared.**

Jared laid Jensen down on his bed and gasped when he saw Jensen’s blood soaked T-shirt, now red instead of white.

'Shit, shit, shit!' He grabbed his phone and dialled the Watcher’s number. ‘Beaver, you need to get to mine right now, Jensen's really hurt, bring all your medical supplies.' Jared threw the phone down and slowly pulled out the stake. He pressed his hand to the wound, hard, as he tried to slow the bleeding, hoping that it would be enough until Beaver made it there.

'Ahhh!' Jensen cried out at the pressure, struggling to move away. 

'I know it hurts, baby, but I gotta do it okay, you're gonna be okay.' _Please, please, please God let him be okay._

'Jared?' He heard Jensen’s weak voice, and Jared could feel tears filling his eyes, he couldn’t lose Jensen, he didn’t think he wanted to be in a world that Jensen wasn’t in anymore.

'Yeah, I'm here.' He squeezed Jensen’s hand, hoping that Jensen could feel it even as he struggled to stay conscious.

'Jared, you're so…I…I think...I think I love you.' Jared touched his forehead against Jensen's, the tears leaking from his eyes now.

'God.' He looked up again and saw that the boy had passed out. ‘I love you too. So much.’ Jared whispered. Now that his initial panic had subsided, he looked down at the Slayer. Jensen’s skin pale against his black sheets, and he looked thin with dark circles under his eyes. He looked fragile in a way that he hadn't when Jared had seen him a month ago, when he’d sworn to stay away from his Slayer. What had happened? And why the hell hadn’t his fucking Watcher been looking after him? Surely that was his job?

Jared heard the knock at his door and he called for Beaver to come in. 

'Jensen.' The man gasped, kneeling down at his Slayer’s side, 'What the hell happened, Jared?' He asked coldly; Jared knew the older man didn't like him and was that now it wasn’t just because of what he was. 

‘He was fighting a couple of vampires and one of them grabbed his stake and stabbed him in the stomach.' Jared told the Watcher. 'But I don't know why he's so thin, why he looks so tired.' He bushed a stray lock of hair from Jensen’s forehead.

'Yeah, well, that's what happens when you don't eat right and you train and patrol every waking minute, like he's been doing.' Jim set up a blood transfusion for Jensen by the bed and then went about sterilising a needle to stitch up the wound. 

'Why would he do that? Why haven’t you been looking after him?' The older man didn't turn to him, didn’t acknowledge the accusation in Jared’s voice. Beaver just carried on caring for his Slayer, but Jared saw the man’s jaw tighten at the question. Moments of silence passed, filled only with Jensen’s ragged breathing and Beaver setting up his medical supplies. Finally, the older man let out a long sigh and continued,

'You’ve really got to ask, Jared? You're even dumber than I thought.' When Jared didn't reply - what was he meant to say to that? - Beaver continued. 'You realise that he's in love with you, right? And you threw that back in his face like it was nothing. Then he _tried_ to move on, get himself a normal boyfriend and you tell him he can't even have that, that he can't have anyone. You know how that sounds to a 17 year old kid, Jared. 

‘I think you forget sometimes that he _is_ still a kid, even though he's seen more than most adults, and he acts like he can take anything. He's not invincible, Jared, and this life - it’s hard on him. It's hard on all of us but for him it’s a hundred times worse; hell, he's probably not going to live to see 25 and you go and tell him he's never going to have someone in his life that'll care about him, that sounds pretty grim, don't you think?' The man finished, glaring at him. 

'I...I...didn't...' Jared didn't know what to say, how to defend himself. He hadn't thought about it like that, Jensen always seemed so much older than his 17 years that Jared forgot that, in so many ways, he _was_ still a kid. 

'Yeah you _didn't_ think, or you didn't care. And I don't know which is worse. To be honest, I wish he'd never met you ‘cause you've taken his already fragile heart, crushed it and then gone and kept it anyway, I don't think he'll ever love anyone like he loves you. And Jensen deserves better than some self-centred vampire who doesn't care enough to make the choice to either be with him or let him go. You hanging around forces him to see everything that he wants with the knowledge that he’s never going to have it.' Beaver finished the last stitch and placed a bandage carefully over the wound. Jim brushed a hand through Jensen's sweaty hair, a fatherly gesture that Jared was sure that Jensen would never have allowed had he been conscious.

Beaver grabbed a thermometer from his bag and placed it into the unconscious boy's mouth. 'Christ,’ the man cursed, ‘I'm surprised he could even stand with a fever this high, we need to get his temperature down. You got ice?' Jared nodded. 'Right, put it into four bags and place one on his forehead, one under each of his armpits, one at his groin.' Jared went to do as he was asked, pretty much on autopilot after what the man had just told him. Jared watched the man give Jensen an antibiotic shot.

'Is he going to be okay?' Jared whispered, afraid of the answer.

Jim sighed, ‘I really don't know, Jared, if we can't get his fever down in the next hour then I'm taking him to the hospital but I would really rather not involve his mother or the authorities in this. Jensen wouldn’t thank me for it; he hates lying to his mother as it is.’

****

Jared and Jim sat for the next three hours in silence, neither man having anything in common other than the boy on the bed. Jared had a lot to think about and he really didn’t want Beaver’s advice on this one.

‘Right, Jared, his fever manageable now, as long as we can stave off infection from that wound, he should be alright.’ Beaver grabbed his coat, ‘I’m leaving the antibiotics; give him another shot in an hour, and that should help stop the infection. I need to see his friends, Danneel will be going stir crazy by now; I need to go and tell them that he’s going be okay.’

Jared just nodded as he walked the man to the door, ‘Thanks Beaver, thanks for saving him.’

The older man turned and looked hard at him but, for once, the stare was without the usual hate that Jared was accustomed to seeing aimed at him, ‘Just look after him Jared. And remember what I said; if you don’t want him, tell him and leave, just go, and I’ll pick up the pieces. But don’t just keep him hanging on to something he’s never going have, it’s not fair.’ 

Beaver looked over at Jensen, for a second, before returning his gaze to Jared, ‘But if you want him, Jared, he’ll give you everything. You know him; he’ll give you everything that he is. And you’ll be lucky as hell to have it so don’t screw up, alright, because I can think of a bunch of people better for him than you…but he wants you. Don’t make him regret it.’

 


	14. Chapter Fourteen.

** Chapter Fourteen. **

** Jensen. **

Jensen felt like crap. He groaned and tried to sit up only to find something pushing at his shoulder, stopping him.

‘Stop, Jen, you can’t sit up just yet.’ 

‘Jared?’ What was Jared doing there? He hadn’t come to Jensen’s room in weeks, _God_ , Jensen hadn’t even seen the guy in at least a month. Not since he’d destroyed Jensen’s ideas of his ever having a relationship. 

‘Yeah, it’s me Jen.’

‘What are you doing here?’ He intended for it to come out more biting than his raspy voice allowed. Jensen opened his eyes a little to look at the vampire. 

‘You don’t remember?’ Jared asked gently.

‘Um…I was patrolling and I felt a bit…off.’ Jensen looked away from Jared, down at the black sheets, hoping that the vampire didn’t ask for any details. Well, just like in every other part of Jensen’s life, Lady Luck decided to put two fingers up at Jensen on that one.

‘A _bit off_? You had a temperature of a hundred and four, Jensen. Jesus, what the hell were you even thinking being out there tonight?’ The anger in Jared’s voice pissed him off; who did Jared think he was to be lecturing Jensen? 

‘Well, in case you haven’t noticed, there’s only _one_ of me, I can’t exactly call in sick now, can I?’ Jensen shot back, even though he knew that it wasn’t the real reason that he’d gone out patrolling even when he had felt like crap.

‘That’s bullshit and you know it, your little buddies could have handled patrolling for a couple of days while you were sick Jensen.’ Jared glared at him.

Jensen did sit up then, despite the pain that it caused in his side. Had he fallen on that? ‘Cause it hurt like a bitch. ‘Like Hell I’m letting the guys out there when I’m not fit to protect him, _Christ_ , what if one of them got hurt?’

‘Yeah, well, now you’ve gone and gotten _yourself_ hurt and you’re gonna be off for more than just a few days. So good job at that one.’ Jared barked back, still scowling at him. 

‘Oh back the fuck off Jared! So what if I feel a bit shitty right now? That’s not gonna stop me from patrolling tonight.’ And neither was Jared.

‘Like hell you are Jensen. You’ve been stabbed and you’re sick. You’re staying right here where I can keep an eye on you; Beaver and the guys will handle your patrol tonight.’ Oh, right, so maybe _that_ why his side was screaming at him to lie back down. 

‘I’m not staying anywhere with you.’ Jensen said, swinging his legs round off the edge of the bed and moving to stand. Jared caught him as his legs gave out and the stitches in his side pulled painfully. He cried out; wow, that _really_ hurt. But he couldn’t stay here, not with Jared. That was the whole point of all of this; it was meant to keep his mind _off_ Jared.

‘Look, Jen, I’ve got a ton of sedatives here that I can use to knock you out for a few days or you can just lay back and let me take of you for a little while.’ Jared picked Jensen up and put him back on the bed, this time pulling back the covers and covering Jensen with them. 

‘Why?’ Jensen’s voice cracked. He was too worn out, too strung out, to be dealing with this. He’d been doing just fine burying his feelings for Jared under a shedload of extra training and patrolling and a huge helping of denial. But now, with Jared right there and his mind dangerously open from the drugs and the pain, Jensen could feel all his emotions flooding forth again. And he didn’t think that his heart could handle it.

‘Because you need someone to look after you right now and…’ Jared looked down at him and Jensen felt completely naked under that piercing gaze, ‘And I want that person to be me.’ Jensen had a moment to register the fact that Jared was kissing him before he kissed him back. 

Jensen figured that he was having some sort of fever induced dream or maybe he’d died and he’d somehow found his way to heaven. Either way, he’d take what he could get. 

****

** Jared. **

Jared had had a lot of time to think while Jensen had been out and he’d come to a decision. Yes, Jared was dangerous but he couldn’t ever imagine hurting the boy on the bed, surely that was enough to keep his blood lust at bay. Hell, he’d been doing it for a hundred years for no other reason than guilt and a wish to atone for his sins but Jensen was so much more important than either of those things. 

And if tonight had shown Jared anything, then Jensen’s life was full of danger no matter if he was with Jared or not. Surely, Jensen would be safer if he had Jared to watch his back and Jared knew that he would lay down his life, in an instant, to keep the Slayer form harm. 

The other reasons against their relationship just fell by the wayside after that.

It wasn’t like Jared needed all that much to convince himself to pursue a relationship with Jensen; he was quickly falling in love with the Slayer, if he wasn’t there already, and was long passed denying his feelings. Having Jensen in his arms that night, so close to dying, and Jared just couldn’t deny them anymore; he didn’t _want_ to live another moment without Jensen being his. 

Beaver was right about one thing; if he didn’t give this relationship with Jensen a chance, he would regret it for the rest of his life. 

So when Jensen woke up and looked so confused as to why Jared was helping him, Jared simply leaned down to kiss him and show him why.

 


	15. Chapter Fifteen.

  
** Chapter Fifteen.  **

A couple of weeks later, Mack’s best friend, Claire, came to visit them. The kid was cute and Jensen had pretty much known her since she was in diapers but, over the last couple of years, she’d taken to alternately staring at Jensen a little too long or rushing out of the room whenever he entered. His Mom had said that she had a little crush on him and that he should just try and act like he always had around her until it passed. His mom assured him that it would. It wasn’t really a problem before he was a Slayer but having a curious fourteen year old watching him constantly, when he was trying to hide his rather large secret from his family, was going to be a little inconvenient to say the least. 

‘So how’s your jailbait girlfriend?’ Chris sat down next to him at the library table. 

‘Jesus, man, don’t call her that, she’s like my sister.’ He shuddered at the thought, it was just nasty. 

‘Sorry bro, but I don’t think her thoughts about you are even remotely brotherly.’ Chris smirked. 

He had had his three friends over for their Movie Night on Friday and Claire had practically fallen over herself to sit next to Jensen on the couch. Add to that, the fleeting glances that she kept, unsubtly, throwing him throughout the movie, and his friends had picked up on her little crush. They’d not stopped teasing him since. 

Claire was only in town for the week, her own school closed for renovations, so it wasn’t going to be a problem all that much longer. Didn’t mean it didn’t suck while she was there though.

‘Just don’t okay, Chris, you’re gonna make me hurl.’ Jensen looked down at his sandwich, wondering whether he should try and eat it or not, now that he was feeling more than a little nauseous.

‘I think it’s cute.’ Danneel chimed in.

‘You would.’ He said back sulkily shoving the sandwich back in his bag; he’d eat it before training after school when his stomach wasn’t doing somersaults. 

‘It’s not causing any problems is it, Jen?’ Misha’s concerned voice was a welcome change from the mocking and teasing and he looked over to his friend. 

‘No, not really. She did catch me climbing through my window at one the other morning but she didn’t say anything about it at breakfast and I’m assuming she didn’t tell Mack. If she had, then Mack would’ve been bribing me for something or other…or she would have just told my mom and I would’ve been grounded till graduation. So I’m hoping she’s just going to keep it to herself. She’s only here for another five days, can’t be that bad, right?’ He asked. 

****

Two nights later, Jensen realised that, yes, it _could_ be that bad. He was patrolling the cemetery, stake in hand, waiting for any new vampires to wake up, when he heard the snap of a twig behind him. 

Jensen spun round, stake raised, and stopped just short of impaling Claire in the chest. 

He was sure her look of shock was mirrored on his own face. 

‘Claire! What are you doing here?!’ Jensen pulled the stake away quickly and stuffed it down the back of his pants, praying that she would just forget that he’d tried to stab her with it.

‘I…I followed you, I wanted to spend some time with you…Jensen, why did you just…just attack me?’ She squeaked, her eyes wide with fear. 

No such luck then. ‘I thought you were a mugger, Claire. You shouldn’t be out here, it’s not safe. Let’s get you home.’ He was sort of pissed at the younger girl right then but he tried to keep his tone quiet and soothing; the girl was obviously scared and she _was_ just a kid after all. Also, Jensen had been alone in the cemetery, too, so he wasn’t exactly setting a shining example for the kid. Idiot. 

Just as he took hold of the girl’s arm, a low snarl behind them stopped Jensen dead in his tracks. Shit. He looked over his shoulder quickly to see a dirty man, dressed in a suit, standing over the soil of a disturbed soil. Great. 

Jensen drew his stake out again and pushed Claire, slightly, towards the exit, ‘Claire, why don’t you go and wait for me outside the gate, I’ll be there in a minute, okay?’ Jensen turned away as soon as she started walking; completely oblivious to what was going on behind her. He didn’t much like her going alone but it was better than her being near the new born vampire. 

‘JENSEN!’ The squeal turned his blood cold and Jensen turned to the girl behind him. Another vampire had her by the throat, its teeth dangerously close to her jugular. No!

‘Wow, Slayer she’s pretty.’ The vampire leaned in and licked along Claire’s neck, ‘And young.’

Oh God. Jensen schooled his features into a calm expression, trying to banish his rising feelings of panic. ‘Look, you don’t want the girl, how about you let her go and we go at it? Hey, it’s two against one; the odds are totally in your favour guys. And believe me, my blood tastes a hell of a lot better than hers.’ He hoped that they couldn’t hear the shake in his voice that he could. 

‘That’s true, Slayer, but there’s something you’re missing.’ The vampire moved lightning fast and broke Claire’s neck with a loud crack. 

Jensen breath hitched in shock. He couldn’t believe it, not even as Claire’s body fell to the ground with the resounding thump of dead weight. ‘You’re talking like we can’t have both.’ It charged Jensen, catching him in the stomach, and sending him reeling. That woke him from his stupor, he could…he could worry (grieve) about Claire once these fuckers were dead. 

They were young and Jensen knew that he could handle them. The first vampire was dust, only moments later, as Jensen knelt to the ground and threw his stake into its heart. The second met a similar end when Jensen threw it up against a sharp tree branch, the wood piercing its chest. Jensen was by the girl’s side before the vampire had even turned into dust.

He knelt down next to her, his hands shaking and held just above her body, afraid to touch. Her blonde hair framed her pretty face, her blue eyes staring straight. Jensen reached out to close them and stroked a stray hair from her face. He knew that he needed to leave; he couldn’t be there if someone came along and saw the body. The police would have to find her and report her death to his mom. And _Mack_ – Claire was, had been, her best friend – she was going to be devastated. Jensen shut his eyes against the tears. God, this could so easily have been Mack and, for a moment, his sister’s face replaced Claire’s.

A second later and the haunting image was gone. Jensen looked down at Claire, one last time, before standing and walking out of the graveyard. 

It was pushing two in the morning when he finally stumbled home, walking half in a daze the whole way, trying to find a scenario in his head where he could have saved Claire. But each time it ended the same, with the innocent girl dead on the grass, her neck at an unnatural angle to her body. The only scenario that would have saved her life would have involved her never being in Jensen’s life, never meeting him – and wasn’t that so goddamn true of everyone Jensen met? 

Jensen climbed through the window and sat down on his bed. He was muddy and sweaty but he didn’t have the energy to get up again; he could shower in the morning. Wouldn’t matter anyway; no amount of water was ever going to make him feel clean after that. No amount of water could wash away the guilt covering his body. He curled up in his bed and grabbed onto one of his pillows and held it tightly to his chest.

Jensen felt his heart squeeze, painfully, in his chest; another life lost, another person that he couldn’t save. She’d only been there because she’d followed him. Why hadn’t he checked? Why hadn’t he been more careful? Wasn’t it his job _not_ to get caught? God, she was fourteen…just _fourteen_. The first sob broke free and he muffled it in the cushion, feeling his whole body shake as he broke down. 

Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around his body and he was pulled forwards into a broad, hard chest. Jensen didn’t say anything, he knew it was Jared. Jensen didn’t know why the man was there but he knew that he needed him so he just buried his face in the Jared’s neck and cried. The arms tightened around him as he sobbed and a hand stroked down his back until he finally lost himself in sleep. 

 

 


	16. Chapter Sixteen.

  
** Chapter Sixteen. **

 

** Jensen. **

 

‘So Jim, what’ve we got on this thing?’ Jensen sat on the library table, looking at his Watcher. He wanted to know what he was up against before he went out hunting for it. That was the best case scenario anyway; if they really couldn’t work out what it was, then he’d just have to go in blind, armed with his trusty stake and the hope that the creature disliked being stabbed repeatedly as much as the other bad guys he’d faced. 

‘Irritatingly little, I’m afraid, Jensen.’ Jensen sighed. Hmm, it looked like random stabbing with pointy objects was going to have to be the plan then. Jensen couldn’t really wait any longer; the thing had already taken and killed three girls over the past two months and Jensen wasn’t going to let anyone else die before he took some action. 

‘Any idea what its hunting ground is? That could maybe give me a head start on finding its lair?’ Jensen asked, spinning his stake skilfully between his fingers, as he continued to watch Jim leaf through the police reports. 

‘Well, from what I can gather, all the girls were taken from here, Sunnydale High; they were all students.’ That left a bad taste in Jensen’s mouth; he’d probably seen them in the halls or in the cafeteria, at some point, even though he couldn’t remember them when he’d looked at their photos. Sometimes, Slaying took up way too much of his attention that the rest of his world just kind of passed him by. 

‘So, are we thinking that maybe it’s got a den nearby? That it comes scouting for its victims, what, during the _day,_ when they’re still at school?’ Jensen asked, a little sceptical. For this demon to be looking for its victims during the day was odd, most evil beings favoured the night, and preferred hunting without the sun’s rays to show off their position…or burn their flesh to a crisp, depending on the creature. 

‘Or maybe it waits until after school to follow them home and snatch them in the dark. I’m not sure, Jensen, but it’s the only thing that connects all three girls and they were all last seen here.’

Jensen shrugged, there _were_ some demons and Supernatural beasts that roamed around during the day; there could be a shapeshifter or a werewolf in the school posing as a student or a teacher to find its victims. It was a possibility but Jensen hadn’t sensed anything evil in the school, over the last couple of weeks, and his senses were getting a lot better with his training. Still, he wouldn’t write either of them off, not when he had nothing else to go on. He’d just have to make sure that he had a silver dagger with him when he went hunting that night. 

‘And the bodies, the reports said that they died of fear? Is that even possible?’ Jensen knew of beasts that fed on fear, and certainly most demons relished the idea of torturing their victims, but he’d never come across anyone actually _dying_ as a result. 

‘That’s what Dr Michaels wrote in his report or fear induced heart attacks, to be more precise, but it all adds up to the same thing; the girls died of fear. I can’t get much on the first two killings, only the cause of death and their names, since their files have been sealed for some reason.’ 

Jensen had spoken to Dr Michaels before, on other cases, and Jensen got the distinct feeling that the man wasn’t as clueless as to what was going on as the rest of Sunnydale’s law enforcement officers. He had a sensible head on his shoulders, even if he creeped Jensen the fuck out whenever they spoke. I mean who the hell works with dead bodies by choice? Jeez. ‘So what did you get from Holly Macey’s report?’

‘Not all that much since someone realised that I was hacking into the police system and cut me off. But I did find out that, whilst her body wasn’t exsanguinated, there was significant blood loss.’

‘Like maybe from symbols carved into her body or the demon using her blood as a sacrifice or something?’ That sounded more like Jensen’s area of expertise and put him on a firmer footing. ‘So all we’ve got are their names, the causes of death and that there may or may not have been blood loss in each case. Awesome.’ 

Jensen sighed, ‘Looks like I better make an after hours trip to the morgue this evening then, have a peek at the bodies myself, see what we’re dealing with.’ Jensen tried to sound flippant about it but he really hated going to the morgue. And he _really_ hated going to the morgue when he had to visit some dead girls the same age as himself. 

‘Yes, I think that would be wise, you need to get a look at the condition of those bodies, maybe it’ll give us some clue about what we’re up against.’ Jim agreed.

Jensen mock saluted the man and jumped down off the desk, ‘Aye, aye Captain. I guess I get a field trip tonight then.’

‘Why not take Jared with you? He might be of some assistance.’ As much as Jim didn’t like the vampire, Jared was easily the best back up that Jensen had and Jensen’s safety was more important to Jim than the petty feud between the two of them.

‘Sure, I’ll give him a call. See you later Jim, gotta get to Bio.’ Jensen rushed off to his next class, with no intention of calling his boyfriend. Like hell, he wanted Jared to see him acting like a scared little girl; when he was at the morgue, he jumped at every single thing and he had to take several deep breaths before he could even _think_ about opening one of those little drawers. _Jesus_ , he really hated those. Jensen shivered just thinking about them.

****

So at ten o’clock, Jensen was sliding in through the window of one of the back offices in the morgue. He jumped down silently; he wasn’t too worried about being heard but in places that housed the dead, and sometimes the undead, Jensen always erred on the side of caution. There were no cameras in the morgue either; Sunnydale was a small town, and the budget for the Morgue was probably pitiful, in spite of the high death toll. They probably needed the money for staff and medical equipment more than they needed it to stop anyone from stealing the bodies.

Jensen walked, soundlessly, down the corridor towards the autopsy room. He slipped inside and walked over to one of the walls of metal coffins ( _tin cans_ ) that housed the bodies kept in the morgue. Jensen breathed deeply, for a moment, before stepping up to the wall. Before he could read the first name, a hand dropped onto his shoulder. 

Jensen let out a very manly squeal and threw himself back against the metal wall. 

‘Jen?’ Jared asked, half amused, half worried. Jensen _had_ hit his shoulder pretty hard. Ouch.

‘Jared?’ Jensen panted, his heart still beating a million a minute. ‘What are you doing here?’ Jensen’s voice, even as a hoarse whisper, was loud in the quiet of the night. 

‘Well, I got a call from _someone’s_ Watcher asking me what _we’d_ found out.’ Jared raised his eyebrows pointedly at Jensen and Jensen blushed. 

‘Look it was no big deal, nothing I couldn’t handle on my own.’ Jensen turned back to the metal doors, pretending to look at the names; really he just wanted a reason to look away from Jared’s too knowing eyes.

‘Yeah, I know you can handle it Jensen, but that doesn’t mean you should have to.’ Jensen felt Jared close behind him and he leaned back against the older man’s body, for a moment, before remembering where they were and pulling away again.

‘Okay. I’ll take this wall, you take that one, and we can get out of here as soon as possible.’ Jensen was already starting to feel a little suffocated just thinking about the tight metal boxes in front of him.

Jensen could feel Jared’s concerned gaze on him; he’d never told anyone about his fears of being buried alive, it was too stupid. It was so unlikely that it would ever happen but he figured it was probably mixed up with his fears of, one day, losing a fight and being turned into a vampire. The fact that it was ridiculous didn’t make him any less scared though.

‘Jen, are you alright?’

‘Yeah, I’m fine, I just want to find this girl and get this over with.’ He said quickly, scanning the names on the coffins.

‘Holly Macey, right?’ 

‘Yeah, that’s it, you got her?’ Jensen moved over to his boyfriend.

‘Yeah. You ready for this?’ Jared asked, carefully, like Jensen was going to run away screaming at any moment. Well, even if he might have _felt_ like doing that, that didn’t mean he was actually going to do it. 

‘Course. Believe me, I’ve seen worse.’ Jensen retorted, hoping that his tone hid the dread he was feeling. He moved forward to pull the door open.

Jared’s hand closed firmly over his, ‘I know you have, Jensen, but that doesn’t make it any easier.’ Jensen just nodded and pulled open the door.

Jensen pulled the sheet, covering the body, down to reveal the girl’s head and torso, confirming that it was indeed Holly Macey that they were looking at. The girl’s body was still fresh and the stitched up ‘Y’- incision from the autopsy stood out starkly against her pale skin. 

Jensen pulled the sheet down further and examined the body, trying to be as professional as possible, despite his brain screaming that he had gone to school with this girl, that people had loved her and missed her, that she shouldn’t be in there, not yet. 

‘Well, I can’t see any runes on his skin but there are a hell of a lot of cuts and bruises on her. And it doesn’t look like anything’s…you know…missing.’ It was odd, there were no ritualistic marks on the body and the cuts, whilst accounting for the serve blood loss they’d read about, weren’t uniform enough to be part of any kind of ritual that Jensen had ever heard of.

And, well, if the body had been taken for feeding, where was the feeding? Nothing looked like it had been eaten.

‘I just don’t get it? This body just doesn’t look like a monster got at it?’ Jensen looked up to see Jared’s studying the body closely, straightening out the clenched fingers and examining the blunt and splintered nails. Jared examined the girl’s arms and legs and the bruises covering almost every inch of her body. 

‘No, it doesn’t.’ Was all he said. 

They heard a loud bang from down the hall. 

‘Shit! Come on, Jay, we’ve gotta get out of here.’ Jensen shoved the metal slab back into the wall and grabbed Jared’s arm, pulling him back out into the corridor and down to the office that Jensen had entered through. ‘Go, now.’ He pushed Jared towards the window, hoping that the larger man would actually be able to fit his broad frame through it. Once he saw Jared’s feet disappear, Jensen jumped up, grabbed the ledge and deftly pulled himself through after him. 

****

They walked back to the graveyard, throwing ideas back and forth about what could have killed Holly Macey. Neither of them came up with anything particularly plausible.

Three hours later and Jensen was sitting in between Jared’s legs, his back pressed to Jared’s chest, with the older man’s hand combing through his hair. They hadn’t seen a single vampire or demon all night, it had been pretty much a bust in terms of hunting but to Jensen it had been an awesome night (if he discounted their visit to the freaky house of death at the beginning of the evening, of course.) 

‘So why did you really not ask me to come with you tonight?’

‘Huh?’ Jensen replied sleepily, it was getting pretty late and being wrapped in Jared’s arms was always enough to send him to sleep.

‘Why didn’t you tell me about the morgue?’ Jared asked again, his long fingers still carding through Jensen’s hair.

Jensen blinked trying to shake the sleep from his head, ‘I told you I could handle it.’

‘Yeah, you _said_ that but I think it’s something else.’ Jared knew him too damn well sometimes and, while that worked out great for them in a fight, it really messed with Jensen’s defence mechanisms the rest of the time.

Jensen sighed; he supposed that, if there was anyone he could tell, it would Jared. ‘I just…I just don’t like morgues, okay, those metal coffins just freak me out. They’re so small and tight and…and I can’t imagine...’ He shuddered at the thought. ‘Being trapped in one of those things, you know.’ 

Jared gripped him tighter, ‘So you’re claustrophobic?’

‘No. Not really, I mean I’ve got no problems with being in small spaces, per se, I mean I’ve crawled through enough vents and some pretty small tunnels in my time. I just…’ he sighed. ‘Ever since I found out about this gig, I’ve had nightmares about being buried alive and…not…not being able to get out and now I just, I don’t like the idea of coffins, and graves, and stuff.’

‘Jen, you get that that’s completely logical, right? With who you are and what you do, it’s perfectly natural to be scared of something like that. Hey, I’d be surprised if you weren’t afraid of it.’ Jared said, his fingers brushing down Jensen’s cheek. ‘What I don’t get is why you didn’t want me to come with you?’

‘Because I didn’t want you to know. It’s stupid. People don’t _actually_ get buried alive, it’s an urban legend and, considering what I’ve seen, for me to be scared of something that’ll never happen is pretty damn pathetic.’ Jensen replied, shame turning his cheeks a little pink.

‘Well, plenty of people are scared of urban legends even though they’re not true, Jen, that’s what keeps them around. But you should know by now that you could tell me anything, and you should’ve had someone there with you if you were scared.’ Jared said logically, his finger still stroking Jensen’s now red cheek.

‘I’m sor…’

‘Don’t be sorry, baby, just let me help you next time okay.’ He kissed the top of Jensen’s head.

‘Okay.’ Jensen nodded. 

****

They stood up and walked back towards Jensen’s house, unaware that someone had listened to their whole conversation from behind the bushes.

 

 


	17. Chapter Seventeen.

** Chapter Seventeen. **

 

** Jensen. **

Over the next week, Jensen and the guys had turned up pretty much zero on the demon they were looking for. Jensen had scoured both graveyards three times, hoping that he’d missed something on his initial sweeps, and Jared had ‘questioned’ some of his more unsavoury contacts about any new evil creatures in town.

All Jared had turned up was Intel on a couple of new vampires, looking to cause a stir, but they had been easily dispatched. 

At least no one else had gone missing, whilst they’d been searching, so Jensen didn’t need to add any fresh guilt to the huge pile that he was already carrying around from his time as the Slayer. 

Over the week, though, he’d started to feel a little odd, like someone was watching him. At school, Jensen could brush it off as one of the students or a teacher but when he was alone…he, well…he never really _felt_ like he was alone at all. Jensen wrote it off as itchiness over their lack of progress; he wasn’t all that good at doing nothing. 

Jensen was on his way to meet Jared for their usual round of patrolling when he felt eyes on him again. He turned around, looked behind him and down the street. But seeing and hearing nothing, Jensen carried on walking, albeit slightly faster than before.

Well, he did until he felt a sharp prick in his neck and he went down like a sack of bricks. 

****

Jensen awoke a little while later in darkness. The air smelt musty and felt thin which was strange because his room was pretty airy compared to the rest of the house. 

Jensen shook his head to clear away some of the muzziness and made to get up. His knee banged painfully against something hard and unyielding. Fuck. He brought both of his hands up and they hit the same unyielding surface.

Oh. My. God. 

Slowly it dawned on him where he was. He…he was in a coffin. Jensen tried to keep his breathing slow and steady, realising that he might not have much air left. 

‘You awake in there, Pretty?’ Jensen strained and he could hear the sounds of digging and, Christ, was this guy gonna bury him alive? The whole breathing steadily thing went out the window with that thought and Jensen could see the blackening edges of his vision just before he passed out again. 

****

Jensen woke up from his nightmare with a start, sweat dripping down his face. He’d dreamt that some psycho was planning on burying him alive. Must have been all that talk of morgues and coffins he’d had with Jared the other day, because it had seemed much more real than any dream he’d ever had. 

Jensen sat up only to find his hands tied to something. What the...

A long rope connected his wrists to a ring in the wooden floor he was sitting on.

‘You know, it took an awful lot more sedative to keep you down than I needed for anybody else. It’s strange but…interesting.’

Jensen looked towards the voice, knowing that he recognised it now, without the hindrance of the coffin, _Jesus Christ_ , walls in the way.

‘Dr Michaels? What the hell is going on?’ Jensen asked, pulling on the rope around his wrists, finding it tight and secure.

‘Come on Jensen, can’t you work it out? You are the Slayer after all?’ Jensen’s stomach rolled over at that. It really never led to anything good when demons knew who he really was. 

‘Slayer? Is that something out of Dungeon and Dragons, ‘cause, dude, do I look like the kind of guy who spends all my time playing games in my mom’s basement?’ Jensen allowed only a hint of his normal mocking tone into his voice, he really didn’t want to piss this demon off, at least not until he knew what he was dealing with.

‘Jensen. I’m Sunnydale’s Chief Coroner; you really think that I don’t know what goes on in this town? Believe me, I know better than anyone what lurks in the dark. I just didn’t realise that _you_ were so important to it all, not until I heard you and your vampire friend talking the other week.’ Okay so the guy knew, no point trying to convince him otherwise so Jensen changed tack.

‘So what do want with all these girls then because I know you didn’t eat them? Did you use them for some demonic ritual to get immortality, control of the town, extra strength…what?’ Those were the usual demon motivators – power, power and more power.

The laugh he received was chilling. ‘You think I’m a _demon_?’

Jensen tilted his head to the side, huh?

‘I’m no demon, boy.’

‘Then what the hell are you?’ _And how do I kill you?_

‘I’m just your friendly neighbour Coroner.’ The man shrugged. No fucking way. This guy wasn’t _human._ Jensen didn’t know how to deal with that.

‘But, then, why?’ Was Jensen even _allowed_ to kill a human? He didn’t think so but funnily enough _that_ had just never come up in his training. The guy might not be Supernatural but he was certainly evil if he’d killed those girls (and kidnapped Jensen and put him in a _fucking_ coffin). Surely he was allowed to kill this one guy after that, right?

‘Because I wanted to. And because I liked it.’ The man grinned at him, and the creep level of that smile had just risen to epic proportions. ‘I don’t usually take boys, girls are normally more fun. I was going to take your little red headed friend but then I saw you...’ 

Jensen recoiled; this really wasn’t going the way he wanted it to go. He was almost wishing that he was buried right then, with a few dozen feet of soil between him and Creepy Mc Creeperson. ‘And then you came into the morgue asking about those chopped up men; you looked so nervous and I realised you would be just perfect for me.’ Jensen watched as the man got up from his chair and walked over to him. ‘I know what you’re afraid of Slayer, I know what chills your bones and sets your heart beating.’

Jensen’s mind flashed back to the coffin and the sound of the man digging and he shook his head in denial. No. No. He wasn’t going out like that, no way. 

‘Everyone’s afraid of something, Jensen. God, you should have heard their screams when I showed them their greatest fears, things they’ve only seen in their nightmares - it was…delicious. But you know the best part…the very best part. It’s the moment that it all becomes too much and I can see them slipping into madness; their hair turns white, their teeth clamp down hard enough to crack, their fingers claw at the exit trying to escape until…finally…finally their hearts. Just. Can’t. Take. It. 

‘It’s amazing to watch that loss of control and know that I was the cause of it, that _I_ made them feel like that.’

‘You sick bastard, what the hell is wrong with you?’ Jensen asked, disgusted and close to vomiting all over the floor at the images the man was putting in his mind. 

The man laughed again. Jensen was running escape strategies through his brain, trying to come up with something that would get him out of that room before he was actually buried this time. But he couldn’t…he couldn’t come up with anything, not with flashes of soil and spades and hard walls flashing through his mind every few seconds. ‘It’s already starting, can you feel it Jensen? Can you feel your heart beat quickening, your breath speeding up? And we haven’t even started yet.’

Oh God. ‘M…my friends are coming for me. They know where I am and you’ll be s…sorry when they do.’ Jensen managed to stammer out, although it sounded less like a threat and more like a plea. He supposed it was. 

Michaels shook his head, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ He grinned at Jensen and even though the man was human, Jensen was sure that his cruel eyes turned demon black. 

****

Jensen breathing was erratic and too fast in the confined space. He knew that he had to calm down but…but he was trapped and…and he couldn’t get out. And…and he’d lied, no one would know where he was…no one would be able to find him. He was going to die down there…but not for a good long while. 

Jensen’s fingers were already bloody and raw from scraping at the wooden sides of the coffin but that didn’t stop him from clawing at whatever piece of wood he could reach. The pain helped keep him grounded, stopped him spiralling away completely because once that happened, he was truly lost.

He was shaking all over and he could feel a thin sheen of sweat over his body. Jensen fought the urge to throw up every time his stomach clamped down and sent bile rushing up his throat. He keep his eyes closed, it was so much better than staring into the darkness and knowing the reason why he couldn’t see. At least this way, he could pretend that it was just because he had his eyes closed. 

Jensen had tried kicking and punching at the top of the coffin, hoping that maybe he’d been able to break through the wood but he just couldn’t get any kind of leverage in the small, compact space and all it did was remind him of how little room he had. Which wasn’t doing his heart rate any favours. Jensen tried to use Jim’s calming techniques, the ones that he used to hone his skills in training, but they only went so far in a situation like this. 

He didn’t know how long he’d been down there but the silence was starting to get to him and he started humming the lyrics to Metallica songs in his head. Jensen’s mind went to his mom and Mack, would they ever even find Jensen? None of the other victims were buried, would his mom just think he’d run away? That thought was even more painful than her knowing that he was dead, he couldn’t bear the idea that she would think he’d just up and left. But with the secretive way he acted around his family these days, why would she think any different?

He began to think about Jim and him getting a new Slayer, he wondered what they would be like, if they would be better than him, _probably_ , and then his mind reminded of where he was and he upgraded that to _definitely_. 

Would Jared keep on looking till he found him or would he just move on? Find a new town and start again?

He felt a tear run down his cheek – he didn’t want to die. 

Suddenly, he heard scrabbling noises over his humming and then the lid of the coffin was torn open. He was lifted out and wrapped up in strong arms, ‘It’s alright, it’s alright, you’re okay.’ _Jared._

_‘_ Oh god!’ Jensen sagged in relief, pulling in deep mouthfuls of air. ‘Jared.’ His breath hitched.

‘It’s alright, baby, I’ve got you, you’re okay.’ Jensen finally let himself give in to unconsciousness.

****

****

‘So how did you find me?’ Jensen asked an hour later when they were back at Jared’s and the man was bandaging up his hands.

‘Well, you didn’t show at the graveyard so I thought you might have gone on another solo mission to the morgue.’ He taped off the bandage and sat down next to Jensen, pulling him close. ‘I climbed in through the same window you showed me and there was this guy, sitting with his back to me, watching a monitor. When I looked closer, I saw that it was you on the screen and you were struggling. 

‘I didn’t even know he was our guy at first but as soon as I saw you, I grabbed him and made him tell me where you were. For a guy who’s so into fear, he really wasn’t all that happy about facing his own. He pissed himself as soon as I showed him my teeth, it was kind of gross.’ Jared kissed Jensen on the cheek. ‘I knocked him out once he’d told me where you were and called Beaver to come and sort it out; I really needed to get away from him if you was gonna get out of there with all his parts still attached. Then I got a shovel and dug you up.’ He gave Jensen another quick kiss, on the lips this time.

‘Thank you, Jared. I…I… _Jesus_ …’ Jensen scrubbed a hand down his face; his nightmares were going to be ten times worse from now on, now that he had actual knowledge of what it was like to be buried alive. ‘What’s going to happen to Michaels?’

Jared growled, ‘He’ll go to prison, he confessed everything to the police when they showed up, according to Beaver. Can’t imagine why he did that.’ Jensen was pretty sure that he knew why and that Jared had told the man exactly what he would do to him if he didn’t. Michaels had probably, wisely, decided that prison for life was the better option. 

‘Good. He can be the one locked up for once.’ Jensen shuddered and leaned back into his boyfriend’s side. 

Demons Jensen got. People were just crazy.

 


	18. Chapter Eighteen.

  
**  Chapter Eighteen.  **

 

** Jensen. **

 

Jensen walked into the park, he was just about finished with his patrol. It was pushing midnight and he'd only met two vampires all evening, both new-borns so they had barely taken moments to dispatch. 

Jensen paused instantly at the sound of voices, knowing that it could be nothing good in the park at that time of night. The familiar adrenaline rush pumped through his veins and he pulled his stake out from the back of his pants and edged closer to the voices. 

Two people were standing by the swings, one pressed up against the metal frame and the other looming over them. Moving closer, Jensen suddenly recognised the back of the taller one, it was Jared, _this_ was what had made the man too busy to join Jensen on patrol that night. 

He was meeting a girl. 

Jensen's stomach twisted at the thought. He stayed and watched, no matter how much it hurt, telling himself that he had to make sure that the girl was safe; Jared was still a vampire after all. Jared pulled back slightly and Jensen saw the girl's face for the first time…and her fangs. 

She was a vampire and Jensen fingers closed tightly around the stake in his hand, longing to bury it in her chest. He didn't though, he just waited and watched. 

'Jay, come on, it's been too long.' The girl ran a perfectly manicured nail down Jared’s chest.

'Sandy, you shouldn’t have come here, I _told_ you not to come here.' The beautiful vampire brushed a hand along Jared’s cheek; Jensen flinched at the intimate gesture. 

'I couldn't stay away and I know you wanted me to come and find you eventually. You always do.' She purred.

Jared suddenly slammed the other vampire against the metal frame of the swings and leaned in close. Jensen stumbled back; he’d been wrong, he couldn't watch this, he couldn't watch his boyfriend kiss someone else, kiss that girl. Jensen spun on his heel and ran home. 

****

Once Jensen got home, he speed dialled Danneel.

'‘Ello?' Came the sleepy reply. 

'Danni.' Jensen's voice broke a little. 

'Jensen? What's wrong?' Her voice had lost any hint of tiredness in response to the distress in his tone.

'It's Jared...he…' Jensen wasn’t sure that he could even say it, he felt so betrayed. _God_ , he’d been so stupid, what had he been thinking? Believing that Jared wanted him, that maybe he even lov…so _fucking_ stupid.

'Is he alright?' Danni asked, concern clear in her voice. 

'I saw him…with…with a girl, in the park.' Jensen knew that he wouldn’t have to explain, the hurt in his voice would tell Danni everything that she needed to know.

'Asshole.' It was such a typical Danneel reaction that Jensen smiled a little despite his breaking heart, and he loved her all the more for it. 'What are you going to do?'

'I don't know…ask him about it, I guess?' Jensen really didn't want to, he didn't want to lose something it had taken him so long to find.

But, if Jared didn't want him, it was kind of pathetic to cling on to the man like a limpet. Okay, not _kind of_ , it was _really_ pathetic. And the girl, she was beautiful _and_ a vampire, and they had looked so perfect together in the moonlight; she was so much better for Jared than Jensen could ever be. 

His mind brought up just how resistant Jared had been to the idea of the two of them together, 

_'I couldn't stay away and I know you wanted me to come find you eventually. You always do.'_

Maybe Jared had been so reluctant to start something with Jensen because he was waiting for his real lover to come back. _Oh God_ , was he with Jensen out of pity? He promptly dropped the phone, ran into his bathroom and threw up. 

'JENSEN! JEN! Are you still there?' Danneel's panicked voice called down the line. 

Jensen moved away from the toilet, wiping at his mouth, and picked up the phone again. 'Yeah, I'm still here, Danni,' he answered, quieter now, 'I should have known, you know. How am I meant to compete with that? You should have seen her, Danni, she was freaking beautiful.' _And the complete opposite of me_. 

'I still think you should talk to him about it, Jen, we've all seen the way he looks at you.' Danni suggested, her voice calm and soothing. 

'But…but Danni, you didn’t see the way he looked at _her_ ,’ he swallowed painfully against the lump in his throat. 'I'm just gonna go to sleep, I'm really sorry that I woke you up, I just…I just needed to tell someone.'

'No problem Jen, you know I'm here whenever you need me.' Jensen knew that she was.

'Thanks Danni,' And he meant it, even if the conversation hadn't made him feel any better, 'I'll see you tomorrow.' 

‘Night.' Jensen flopped back onto his bed and, for once, welcomed the nightmares full of blood and demons just so they would keep the visions of Jared and his girl away.

****

** Misha. **

‘Jesus, he looks like crap.’ Chris muttered. 

Misha looked up to see Jensen putting his bag into his locker and yeah, the guy did not look his best. Although, to be fair, Jensen just looked like a mortal rather than of one of the Greek Gods that he resembled on his normal days. 

Misha walked over to Jensen and placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. ‘Hey, Jen, bad night?’ Jensen jumped at the contact before plastering the fakest smile Misha had even seen on his face. 

‘Nah, just some bad dreams, you know how it goes.’ Jensen shrugged and the guy might have been an awesome fighter when it came to killing off the undead but he couldn’t lie for shit and Misha saw right through him. 

‘Yeah, I don’t think so. Danneel told us that you saw Jared with some girl last night. That got anything to do with why you look like something out of The Rocky Horror Show this morning?’

Jensen sighed, ‘I think I need a pair of fishnet tights and a corset to get me there, Meesh, but, yeah, I saw Jared with someone else last night. But, you know, it could’ve been anything. I didn’t stick around to ask him and, anyway, what Jared does with his free time isn’t any of my business, right?’ Jensen slammed the locker door hard enough to leave a slight dent in the grey metal. 

Misha was still trying to process the fishnets and corset image when their other friends walked up. 

‘It absolutely is your business who Jared is meeting, in the middle of night, after cancelling a date with you. You’re in a relationship and he needs to start fucking acting like it.’ Danneel spat. 

‘It wasn’t even a date, it was just patrolling.’ Jensen reminded her. 

‘Um, as sad as it is Jen, for you that constitutes a date.’ Chris added, a little sympathetically. 

Jensen looked half insulted and half resigned. ‘Yeah, suppose you’re right. Maybe he wouldn’t be off getting his jollies elsewhere, if my dates didn’t involve so much pain and dead bodies.’ It was meant as a joke but it fell flatter than a pancake. 

Misha had finally managed to file away, and save _obviously_ , the image of Jensen in fishnets and a corset and was able to return to the conversation. He slung an arm around his friend’s shoulder, ‘To be honest, Jen, that’s part of your charm; you give up your life to make sure _others_ getto have their normal, safe cinema and coffee dates. So if Jared thinks he’ll have it better with some slut vampire then screw him. You’re better than that, and believe me, there are other people out there who can appreciate your awesomeness if that undead asshole can’t.’ 

Misha didn’t miss Chris and Danneel rolling their eyes at him. Hey, it was the truth, it was just that he hadn’t told Jensen that he was one of those ‘other people’ who could sooo appreciate Jensen’s awesomeness if the Slayer would only let him. 

Jensen smiled at him and Misha’s breath caught, it was like looking into the sun, ‘Thanks Misha. Look, guys, I’m just gonna go to history, I’ll see you later okay.’ And with that, Jensen walked down the hall to his first class. 

_God that vampire was so fucking stupid._

****

** Jensen. **

Jensen was out patrolling that night, alone _again,_ since his maybe, almost ex-boyfriend had cancelled on him, and Jensen was desperately trying to keep images of Jared and his mystery girl out of his head. It was distracting and he couldn’t have that when he was on the job.

‘So _you’re_ the Slayer I’ve been heard so much about?’ A silky voice called from behind him.

Jensen spun round to face the voice; he already knew that it was Jared’s companion. 

‘You show me yours and I’ll show you mine,’ He shot back.

‘Oh, aren’t you just adorable.’ Jensen bristled, ‘Thinking you can order _me_ around.’

‘I was actually thinking more about killing you but we can start with that if you like.’ Jensen already had his stake in his hand, briefly wondering if Jared would be mad at him for killing his girlfriend, but then berated himself for thinking it. He was the Slayer first and Jared’s…whatever-he-was-now…second and this girl was a vampire. And from vibe he was getting from her, she was not following the people-free diet that Jared was.

‘Honey, I’m not here to fight you, not tonight anyway, I just wanted to get a look at the competition. Jay seems to think you’re pretty special. But all I can see is the pretty.’ She waved an arm up and down his body. ‘Sweetie, there’s clearly nothing special about you, believe me, I’ve tussled with a few Slayers in my time and you have really lowered the bar.’

She came closer but made no attempt to engage him. ‘But Jay did always like pretty; I’ve had to win him back from many a young thing over the years but he _did_ always come back. He’s just not very good at resisting a pair of pretty eyes and I’m sure he’s had some fantasies about you on your knees with lips like that.’ Jensen blushed in humiliation; he and Jared hadn’t really gotten passed kissing yet. Was that why Jared had gone back to this woman? Was Jensen just too inexperienced for him?

‘But pretty only goes so far when there’s nothing behind it, no connection like the one we share, and once he gets tired of his little toys, he always comes back for the real thing. _Always_ Slayer.’ She looked hard at him then smiled, obviously seeing something in his face that she liked.

‘Oh.’ She stopped and chuckled softly, ‘Jared didn’t tell you about us? Gosh, I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t have said anything.’ She didn’t sound sorry. Not at all.

Suddenly, she was right in front of him and the harsh backhand caught him by surprise, the ring on her finger splitting open his cheek. Then he was flying through the air and hitting the ground hard; he was winded and breathless when she leaned over him. ‘Now, if you step aside, Slayer, this can be the last time we meet, no harm, no foul. You tell Jared goodbye and I’ll leave you alone.’ 

Then she was gone.

****

Jensen arrived two hours later, as planned, at Jared’s so that they could spend some time together before Jensen had to go home to bed. God, he felt like such a kid. 

Well, he was going to show Jared that he wasn’t a kid and that he could get whatever he needed from Jensen, that he didn’t need to go elsewhere. 

Jared opened the door, looking perfect as always, in a tight black shirt and black pants that really left nothing to the imagination, which was just fine with Jensen. Jensen, himself, had changed quickly in the public restroom; he had been kind of grubby from his run in with Jared’s girl. 

He really wished his mind would stop referring to the beautiful creature as Jared’s girl. It wasn’t helping his confidence.

‘Hey Jen, come on in.’ Jared moved out of the way of the door so that Jensen could walk by. Jensen made sure to brush up against the taller man as he walked in. He could _totally_ do this. Jensen walked over to the couch and sat down, feeling nervous for the first time in ages, since he and Jared had started their relationship.

Jared passed him a can of cola and sat down next to him, his own beer in hid hand. ‘So what do you…’

Jensen reached over a kissed him. Jared made a surprised noise but his hand quickly came up to cup the back of Jensen’s neck and stroke the hair there as he returned the kiss. Jensen slid off the couch onto his knees. It was now or never, he was totally sure that he could do this and if that girl had shown him anything, it was that Jensen really needed to up his game if he was going to keep Jared. 

He reached for the zipper of Jared’s pants, cursing his shaking hands and fumbled to get it open. 

‘Jen...what are you…’

‘Just...just...I can do this, I swear.’ He looked up into Jared’s confused face, ‘I can…really, _please_ …I can do better...’ Jensen returned his attention to the zipper that just wouldn’t fucking open.

Jensen felt hands on top of his, stilling his efforts, and he flushed bright red. God, he was such a loser, no wonder Jared didn’t want him. He was pulled back up onto the couch, ‘Jensen, what’s going on? What brought this on?’

Jensen couldn’t tell Jared. Jared would think he was asking him to choose and Jensen really didn’t think he’d like the outcome of that decision so he just shook his head, feeling the blush deepen on his cheeks and slide down his neck. He’d never felt more humiliated in his life. Maybe he _was_ too much of a kid for Jared after all. He just couldn’t do anything right, no wonder Jared was meeting up with his girl. 

Jensen felt Jared’s thumbs stroke over his cheeks and he leaned into the contact; it felt so good having Jared there with him. But how long would Jensen have him now that Jared’s girlfriend had come to town? Jensen wasn’t sure that he’d survive Jared leaving him. ‘I just…’ _wanted you to want me._ ‘I have to…I’ve gotta go.’ Jensen sprang up and practically ran from the apartment, ignoring Jared’s calls. 

****

‘So you still haven’t asked him about this mystery girl he keeps blowing you off for then?’ That was so Danneel, straight to the point.

‘How can I?’ _What if he chooses her?_ Jensen didn’t look up from the exorcism he was trying to learn. It was the fourth one that he’d had to learn that week and all the Latin was really doing a number on his brain. _Come on,_ he knew three already, surely, he could do without a fourth. But no, Jim had insisted that this was the most important one. Right. Important or not, it just wasn’t going into Jensen’s brain. 

‘Um, how about you say, ‘Jared, tell me about that dark haired, skanky hoe that you keep meeting instead of me before I chop your balls off.’ Danneel replied, pulling a nail file out of her bag and getting to work on her already pristine nails.

‘Jesus, Chris I hope you never do anything to piss her off.’ Jensen laughed, hoping to deflect the topic away from his disastrous affair with Jared. 

‘Trust me, she’s worth the risk.’ He leaned down and gave the red headed girl a soft kiss on the cheek, ‘But she’s right, dude.’ Jensen looked incredulously at him, ‘Well, I wouldn’t recommend that you ask him like _that_ but you need to know what this chick means to him. And you’re gonna find out sooner or later; I get the impression that she’s not planning on going anywhere any time soon, so you might as well find out on your terms.’ Chris never said all that much but, when he did, the guy was surprisingly perceptive. Jensen wasn’t sure whether that fact cheered him up or pissed him off right then. 

‘Hey, Misha what’s your take on Jensen’s Jared situation?’ Danneel called over to the ass peeking out from the stacks. 

Misha liked research, almost as much as Jim; it was a shame really, the guy would’ve made the perfect Slayer for his Watcher. Jensen felt kind of bad for his lack of enthusiasm when it came to the lore behind all this stuff; he was just much better at the stabbing and punching side of things. Well, maybe Jim’s next Slayer would be a little more like Misha and a lot less like him and Jim would be happy and, _wow_ , that was a majorly morbid thought, even for him. He shook it off, he knew better than to dwell on shit like that; what would happen would happen and there wasn’t much he could do about it. 

‘Dump the bastard.’ Misha called from the back of the library.

‘Misha, that’s always your advice.’ Jensen laughed. ‘Jesus, I know the guy’s a vampire but he’s saved all our asses countless times, I don’t know why you hate him so much.’ 

Jim looked up at him, raising both eyebrows, and Danneel and Chris shared an exasperated look. What was _that_ about?

‘Look, for once, I don’t actually think Misha’s advice is all that wrong.’ Jensen looked up at Danneel again at that, surprised; he knew that his friend liked Jared. ‘If he’s dating this girl, Jen, you need to dump him and get out of this as unscathed as possible.’ She looked sympathetic then, knowing how deeply invested he was in the relationship, despite the short time they had been together. 

That was pretty much par for the course for a Slayer, you sort of had to enjoy everything to the utmost before it or you was snuffed out. ‘But, you have to ask him first; don’t go making any assumptions before you talk to him. You’ll only regret it if you do something stupid and this all turns out to be nothing.’ Jensen blushed remembering the night before. He’d _already_ done something stupid and made an ass of himself in the process.

‘Oh God, what did you do?’ Danni sighed.

‘ItriedtogivehimablowjobbutIwassonervousthatIitmessedup.’

‘In English please.’ Danneel said but Jensen knew that Chris had gotten what he’d said as the man was trying to hide a smirk. _Bastard_. 

Jensen sighed and looked back down at his book, hoping that it would hide the blush on his cheeks, ‘I tried to give him a blow job.’ 

The strangled noise from the stacks made them all jump and they turned to look at Misha who was now in a tangle of books on the floor. ‘I’m alright, I’m alright, I…just…fell over.’ Misha blushed.

‘How do you fall over when you’re on your hands and…oh nevermind.’ Jensen shook his head and sat back down.

‘Well what happened?’ Danneel asked calmly, not a hint of a smirk anywhere. Jensen noted that Jim had left the room. Wise man.

‘I was so nervous that I couldn’t get his pants open and then he stopped me. Jesus, who _stops_ a blow job.’ Jensen had been playing the scene over and over in his mind all night. God, had Jared already moved on if he was willing to turn Jensen down so quickly? Was Sandy all the lover Jared needed? Had Jensen’s fumbled attempt at seduction come off as stupid as it had felt? Was Jared finally tired of waiting for Jensen to grow up and make their relationship worth his while?

‘Jen, he was probably just a bit confused, that’s all. I mean, you guys haven’t really done anything like that and you just turn up at his place and get down on your knees. The guy was probably wondering what the hell was going on.’ That _did_ make sense, they hadn’t really talked about sex yet so for Jensen to just walk in and offer a blow job probably came a little out of left field. 

Jensen loved Danneel; she always made him feel better. ‘You know what would have been better than trying to blow that other girl out of his mind?’ Jensen blushed and looked up at her. ‘Talking to him about it.’

Jensen conceded that Danni was right; he was going to have to talk to Jared about the girl if they were going to get past this. If Jared still _wanted_ to get past this. Yep, he’d talk to Jared on patrol that night. 

If the guy didn’t cancel on him again. 

 


	19. Chapter Nineteen.

  
 

** Chapter Nineteen. **

** Jensen. **

 

Jared didn’t cancel but he barely talked to Jensen, either, which left Jensen feeling embarrassed and stupid. Cleary, Jared was still mad about the night before and Jensen didn’t even know how to phrase an apology for that. 

_‘Sorry, I almost gave you a blow job and then ran away like a little girl.’_ Really didn’t seem enough. 

That left one topic then - Jared’s girl. Damn it. ‘So what’ve you been up to the last couple of nights; you said you were too busy to patrol with me, find anything good?’ Jensen tried to keep his tone casual; he really didn’t want to accuse Jared of anything and he _certainly_ didn’t want to come off sounding like a jealous boyfriend. And, if he was honest, Jensen kind of wanted Jared to admit to meeting up with his old girlfriend himself.

‘Nothing much.’ Not what Jensen was hoping for. ‘Took out a demon nest the first night but, since I didn’t have time to get rid of the bodies before sunrise, I had to go back last night to deal with them.’ 

Jensen’s heart clenched in his chest and he stopped walking. Jared just _lied_ to him, right to his face. It was the first time (that Jensen knew of) that Jared had done that. And it hurt, surprisingly, more than Jensen had thought it would. 

‘Tut tut, Jay.’ They both turned to the new voice, the high lyrical quality cutting through Jensen like a knife, ‘You shouldn’t lie to your boy. He already knows all about me.’

Jared looked at Jensen, his face a mixture of shock and guilt. That was all the answer Jensen needed. Jared had had no intention of telling him about the meetings and Jensen had given him the perfect opportunity; had it all been innocent then he could easily have told Jensen everything. 

Jensen, secretly, knew that if Jared had just told him that he had had a quick tumble with the girl but regretted it, and that he was sorry, then Jensen would have forgiven him. 

But Jared _lying_ to him. That was something that Jensen couldn’t forgive. Jensen had to be able to rely on the people in his life; lies could get him killed. He reserved his trust for a small number of people and Jared was one of them. _Had_ been one of them.

‘Jen...I...’

‘You what, Jared? You didn’t think I’d find out? _God_ , you must think I’m so stupid. But guess what, Jay, I’m not some charity case; you don’t want me, fine, but at least have the balls to break up with me before you go behind my back with some slut.’ Jensen kept his voice low, trying to hide the whirlwind of emotions battling within him.

‘The name’s Sandy, sugar.’ She didn’t dispute the slut comment though.

‘Shut up, Sandy.’ Jared barked. He turned back to Jensen, ‘It’s not what you think Jensen.’ 

Sandy wove her slender around Jared’s torso from behind and Jensen tried to blink back the tears from his eyes. They did look perfect together even as Jared shoved her off to reach for Jensen. 

One good thing about the being the Slayer - Jensen was really damn fast and he evaded Jared’s hand and ran from the two vampires, his vision blurring as he ran. 

****

Jensen didn’t see Jared over the next few days; he ignored the all man’s calls and messages as well as the worried looks from his friends. 

He went out patrolling alone; half glad, half disappointed each time that Jared didn’t come to find him, to try and explain what was going on between them. Jensen just had to accept that they were over and move on. 

Then his face met a shovel. Ow.

****

Jensen woke up to darkness. Why did people keep knocking him out? 

The left side of his face hurt like a son of a bitch and Jensen made to sit up, only to find that he couldn’t move. He was chained to something cold and solid. As his eyes adjusted to the murky darkness of the room, he realised that he was in a mausoleum, one of the older ones, and it looked like it hadn’t been opened in a long time. Not a lot of chance of help coming along then. Awesome. Jensen pulled at the chains, but they were pretty strong, and he only succeeded in rubbing the skin of wrists raw against the metal. 

‘Hey there, sweetheart. You sleep like the dead.’ He felt something stroke down his cheek, pulling his face away roughly when he realised that it was Sandy’s hand. ‘Now we just need to wait for Jay to get here, then we can begin.’ _Begin_? He really didn’t like the sound of that. Jensen needed to keep her talking; Jim would have noticed he was missing by now right? Or his friends, someone would notice? _Please_.

‘I don’t get it. You _got_ Jared, why do you need to do any of this.’ Jensen asked, turning his head to look at the vampire. The question wasn’t just to keep her distracted either, he was actually sort of curious; Jared had clearly made his choice.

‘Yeah, you’d think.’ She looked intensely at him then, her brown eyes almost black in the dark, ‘But there’s something about you and I can’t seem to get him to forget you.’ Jensen’s heart did a little flutter at that, ‘So I’ll just have to get rid of you instead.’ The little flutter died a quick death. 

Sandy chuckled, ‘Well actually, Jay’s gonna get rid of you himself, once he gets here.’ No way, Jared might not love him but he’d never hurt him. Right? Jared didn’t feed on humans, he hadn’t for years. 

_But he had for years, before he’d decided to stop, wasn’t that what he was atoning for?_ The treacherous little voice of reason in Jensen’s head really wasn’t making him feel any better. 

‘Not a chance; Jared would never hurt me.’ He put as much confidence into his voice as he could, hoping that it would be enough to, at least, unbalance the girl a little. Despite his bravado, she merely laughed and scratched a nail along his jaw.

‘Oh, he will, sweetie…and more. Once I give him a taste of your blood, he won’t be able to stop himself. As much as he loves to pretend that he’s human, there’s still a part of him that’s very much an animal.’ She leaned in close to Jensen’s ear, ‘And once that animal smells blood, it’ll go in for the kill, no matter how pretty the prey is.’ 

Jensen gulped; everything he knew about vampires agreed with what she’d said. Hell, Jensen had never met a vampire who didn’t drink human blood, before Jared, and he could attest to the power of blood lust better than anyone.

‘You think he’ll forgive you if you make him do that?’ She tensed and moved away, focusing on the stone walls of the crypt. 

‘Not right away, no. But in time, give it half a century or so, and he’ll have forgotten all about his little Slayer. His affairs don’t last, Jensen, you have to know that you can never be what he needs. He needs someone to accompany him through the ages and you…at best, you’re going to make 25, but I doubt that you’ll see 26, that’s pretty pathetic.’ Jensen clenched his jaw against the cruel words. 

She sniffed the air delicately, a smile forming on her crimson lips, ‘Here he comes now.’ She put a firm hand over Jensen mouth and cut deeply into his right wrist, collecting the blood that dripped down in a large bowl. Jensen tried to cry out but the shout was muffled by Sandy’s hand. A gag was shoved into his mouth and he could feel the blood running freely from his wrist. This really was not a position he wanted to be in; tied down and bleeding copiously, with two vampires in close vicinity. 

‘Oh my God, Jensen. I’m so sorry.’ Jared rushed over to his side, despite Jensen trying to angle his head to the corner that Sandy was hiding in. Suddenly, she was on Jared’s back and tipping the bowl into his mouth. He pushed her away but Jensen saw the flash of red in the man’s eyes. Shit.

‘Doesn’t he taste just perfect, Love.’ Sandy purred in Jared’s ear as he shook his head, vigorously, trying to clear it. She grabbed Jensen’s arm and raised it to Jared’s mouth, ‘We could share him.’ Jensen pleaded with his eyes for Jared to untie him so that he could kill the bitch.

The sharp bite of teeth came as a surprise. Jared bit down hard into the flesh of his wrist and began sucking the blood. Jensen was so shocked that he barely felt the sting in his other wrist when Sandy bit down. The world started going hazy, soon after that, but he managed to roll the gag against his shoulder till it fell from his mouth. 

‘Jay, _please_...’ He begged quietly. Jared looked up, his mouth red and dripping with Jensen’s blood, his long white teeth extended, and his eyes feral and glowing. ‘Please…you…you promised...’ _you’d never hurt me_. 

Suddenly, the red irises faded back to hazel and Jared dropped his arm and backed away, looking horrified. Jensen let his eyes fall closed, if he hadn’t gotten though to Jared by then, then he wouldn’t get through to him at all, and he really didn’t have the strength left to try again.

Jensen opened his eyes when he heard a quiet, confused, ‘Jared?’ He saw Sandy standing next to him, her face similarly smeared with Jensen’s blood. She looked the same as before he had closed his eyes except now there was a long shaft of wood sticking out of her chest. One moment she was there and the next she was dust on the floor. Vaguely, Jensen felt the cold iron chains slither off his body and Jared pick him up off the slab. 

‘Jen, I’m so sorry. God, what have I done?’ Jensen wanted to reassure him; that Jensen didn’t blame him, that Jared had stopped and Jensen was grateful. Jared had saved his life.

Unfortunately, concussion and severe blood loss don’t really go all that well together. Who knew?

****

Jensen woke up in the hospital almost a day later, hooked up to an IV and heart monitor. Jim was sitting by his bed. 

‘So what’s the story on this one Jim?’ He said, sitting up, mindful of his bandaged arm.

‘Wild dog.’ The man answered gruffly.

Jensen raised a curious eyebrow, _really_? Of all the excuses Jensen had come up with for hospitals and his mom over the years; that was pretty lame. 

Jim clearly must have caught his unimpressed expression. ‘Hey don’t blame me, blame Jared; he was the one who came up with that one.’ Oh, Jared, right. And Jared wasn’t there. One look out the window told Jensen that it was still dark out, Jared _could_ have been there. If he had wanted to be. ‘How you doing there, kid?’

‘I’m fine.’ He really, really wasn’t. He’d broken up with the love of his life, who’d then proceeded to feed on him and then dump him on someone else to look after. His life was really shitty sometimes. 

‘Don’t give me that ‘I’m fine’ bullshit, you know you can talk to me Jensen, it’s what I’m here for.’

‘I thought you were a Watcher, not a Listener.’ Jensen snarked, but there was no real heat behind the words. ‘It’s nothing. I just thought that Jared might have been here, that’s all.’ He tried to make it sound like he didn’t care either way, even though they both knew that he did. 

‘Well, the guy looked like shit when he left. I mean, really bad. After the tongue lashing he got from Danneel, I can’t blame him, that girl’s a firecracker. But I think it was something else too. What happened last night, Jensen?’

Jensen’s mind flashed back to Jared feeding off him and the hungry, animalistic look in the man’s eyes. It had been scary, he couldn’t deny it; he didn’t like to think of Jared as a vampire but Sandy was right about one thing, there was a part of Jared that was still a creature of the night. He wasn’t going to tell Jim any of that though, the man had enough problems with Jared already.

‘Oh the usual; got kidnapped by Jared’s crazy girlfriend, who fed on me and then Jared killed her. Same old, same old.’ He shrugged.

‘Jensen, there’s a bite on both of your arms.’ Jim pushed, but clearly he already knew the answer to that puzzle.

‘Look, Jim, I’m really tired. Being sucked dry’ll do that to a guy. Would you mind shutting off the lights on your way out please?’ He closed his eyes, hoping that his Watcher would take the hint that he really didn’t want to talk anymore. 

‘Alright, Jen, I’ll be back in the morning with your mom and your sister.’ Jensen felt the man squeeze his hand; a small token comfort in the lonely hospital room. 

Jensen heard the door close and opened his eyes again; he didn’t think he’d been getting much more sleep that night. 

****

** Jared. **

Jared saw Jensen jump as he spoke from the shadows at the opposite end of the room. ‘You’re awake.’

‘Jared.’ Jensen tried to pull himself further up the bed, one-handed. Jared held himself back, even though he was desperate to go over to the bed and help the man. ‘Yeah, I’m awake.’

‘Good.’ Jared needed to do this quickly or he’d never have the strength to do it at all. He needed to distance himself from Jensen once and for all; Sandy had shown him exactly what he was and no matter how good his intentions were, he was still a monster. Jared had thought he could control his urges around Jensen; he’d promised himself that he’d cut out his own heart before he hurt him. But last night, Jared had lost control and almost killed the Slayer. 

He had been right all along; he clearly couldn’t be trusted with something so precious. 

Jensen obviously wasn’t planning on making this easy for Jared, ‘Look, Jared, about what happened. You have to know I don’t blame you for any of that, right? It wasn’t you’re fault and I just… I wanted to thank you...for, you know, stopping and saving me from Sandy.’ The kid looked so damn sincere that Jared had to look away.

He wanted to laugh, how could the kid be fucking _thanking_ him after he’d fed off him like a leech? Jared just shook his head, _Jesus_ _Christ_. Just another reason to get himself away from the guy; he was just too perfect to be tainted by Jared’s darkness, even if he didn’t see it.

‘Don’t thank me, Jensen. You were right about Sandy and I.’ Jared heard Jensen’s breath hitch even from across the room, ‘We’ve been meeting for weeks, I should have broken things off with you sooner. I only killed her because I don’t like people thinking they have power over me, I didn’t do it for you.’ 

It was all a blatant lie; Jared had never had any intention of pursuing Sandy, not when he had Jensen. He couldn’t even _imagine_ being with anyone else. 

‘You’re just a kid, Jensen, I should never have let you talk me into this…whatever the hell we had going.’ That at least was true, he should never have let Jensen persuade him into starting a relationship; Jared should have known that Jensen would just get hurt. 

‘But, Jay, please, I can…’

‘No you can’t. You can’t be what I want Jensen.’

‘But...’

‘No, I don’t want you, Jensen. I never did, you were _just there.’_ The repeated words he had said to Jensen, what seemed like a lifetime ago, echoed through the room. They hurt to say even more the second time, now that he knew what it was for Jensen to be his.

Jared left the room, pretending that he didn’t hear the quiet sobs echoing through the night.

 


	20. Chapter Twenty.

  
  
 

** Chapter Twenty. **

** Jim. **

Jim put the phone down, his face grim and his heart heavy. Traci hadn’t contacted him in two years and Jim had been grateful for the reprieve. The seer’s prophecies were unstoppable, no matter what he tried to do to prevent them, they always came to pass, one way or another. 

Over the years, Jim had seen countless innocents slaughtered whilst he’d done everything he could to save them, only to fail every damn time. Every time he spoke to the woman he hoped that it would be the last time that he would hear from her. 

That day had been the first time that he’d had to listen to a vision about someone he knew, someone he cared about.

Jensen. 

God, the kid was a handful, just like he’d known he’d be. Jim had read all of Brown’s diaries and reports on the Slayer and everything had pointed to Slayer being a little hellion. What Jim hadn’t counted on was the kid caring so much; being so desperate to do what was right, no matter what it cost him. Jensen listened to his heart first and his brain second and, though it had gotten the boy into trouble on more than one occasion, Jim was convinced that it made the kid a better Slayer. 

And Jensen had talent, the real potential to be one of the best Slayers the world had ever seen. The boy had missed vital years of training yet still managed to excel in every area of combat; he moved with the fluidity of a Slayer who’d trained for twice as long. His precision and reflexes were nothing short of remarkable.

But that wasn’t what that drew Jim in; it was watching Jensen struggle and battle his own demons every day and always come out on top. It was watching him sacrifice everything he wanted to help people who would never even know his name. _That_ was what set him a world apart from all the rest.

Jim’s heart ached that it would all be over so soon, that that light would be snuffed out long before it had had its time to shine. It hurt more than it should have for a Watcher. Jim was supposed to maintain a professional distance from his Slayer, guide him impartially in the ways of fighting evil, but never get attached. But the kid had just reeled him in; he’d tugged at every protective instinct that Jim had. Jim was more than willing to lay down his own life for Slayer.

But none of that mattered. The vision had been clear; Jensen was the one who was going to die and there was nothing that Jim could do to stop it. 

Nothing.

****

** Jensen. **

Jensen walked into the library to find his Watcher frantically flipping through a mountain of texts. Jensen had had a rough couple of weeks after Jared had left him but his friends had been there for him. His heart still pulsed painfully every time he thought of the vampire or he saw two lovers together, reminding him of its fractured state. 

But he was starting to get his head on straight again and get back in the game. Jensen had people to protect; he had responsibilities, so he just shoved his own pain deep, _deep_ , down where it couldn’t stop him from doing his job.

And if, sometimes, when he was alone at night, it all became too much and the dam broke sending pain slicing through him that was so crippling that he could barely breathe. Well, that was okay because, then, the only person he was hurting was himself. He could allow himself that. 

But Jim looked fraught and panicked in a way that Jensen had never seen; it put him on the alert immediately, his Watcher never lost his cool. Yeah, he got mad at Jensen all the time but he was usually more exasperated than genuinely worried. 

‘Jim, is everything okay?’ He asked carefully.

Jensen watched his Watcher jump, and almost drop the book he was holding, clearly startled by Jensen’s presence despite the fact he had made no attempt to be quiet. 

‘Jim, are you alright?’ He repeated; taking the book from the older man’s shaking hands. There was something really wrong and concern for his Watcher bloomed instantly in his chest.

‘Not really Jensen, no.’ Jensen quickly took the seat next to Jim’s, laying a hand on the older man’s arm. 

‘It’s alright Jim, whatever it is, I’ll deal with it and everything will be alright.’ Jensen smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. 

‘No, that’s not…’ Jim scrubbed a hand over his face. ‘Jensen, I received a phone call from an old friend this morning. She’s a powerful psychic down in Iowa and her visions always come to true. S he told me that she saw something, she had a vision about…about you, Jensen.’

Jensen felt a shiver crawl down his spine; if Jim was this worked up then the vision it couldn't have been good. He replied lightly, though, trying to hide own concerns, 'Well, don't keep me in suspense, old man, what did she tell you?'

He saw the hesitation cross his Watcher’s face, saw the pain in his eyes, but it was the fear that really struck Jensen. Jim wasn't afraid of anything; hell, Jensen was terrified half the time but not Jim, he had never even showed a hint of fear in all the time that Jensen had known the man. Until now. 'I don't think…'

Jensen felt his own mask slip for a moment, 'I need you to tell me, Jim, I need to be ready.' That was one of the first lessons that Sterling had ever taught him; always be prepared.

‘An ancient cult is planning to raise a demon, two days from now, on the full moon. The demon’s name is Tellon, the Destroyer of Worlds. It is written that should he rise, he will destroy all he touches and suck everything he sees into Hell for eternity.' 

_'Christ_ ,' Jensen whispered, his face white. 'How am I meant to fight it if it can send me to Hell with just a look? Seems like it’s got a bit of an advantage on me there, Jim.' He joked, trying to ignore the sharp twisting of his stomach.

'As the Slayer you’re immune to its powers. The last time that Tellon rose he fought and killed a Slayer but, before he died, the Slayer managed to recite a temporary binding ritual to send the demon back to Hell.’ Jim sighed. ‘Unfortunately, the ritual connected their souls, even in death. You and the demon are now linked by blood and its unholy powers can’t affect you. But once that binding spell is broken in two days’ time, it can’t be reactivated again, the hold will be irrevocably broken, and Tellon won’t be able to be sent back to Hell.’ Jim explained.

Well that was just…grim.

'Oh. Okay, I get that it’s bad but I don't really see how this guy’s any different from every other demon I've gone up against; they're all kind of into the whole destroy-the-world thing. I grant that this guy seems to be taking it to a whole new level but, still, same song different verse, right?'

'No Jensen, he’s not like the rest at all. All those demons were susceptible to mortal weapons.' Jim replied somberly, his eyes fixed on the open books on the table.

'What does that mean? He can't be killed?' Jensen felt his blood run cold and was afraid, for a moment, that he might just pass out. He felt that reaction wouldn’t be all that unwarranted since if the demon couldn’t be killed and it couldn’t be banished again, then mankind was pretty much screwed. 

Jim shook his head, sadly. 'He can be, but there's only one way to do it.' He paused and looked Jensen right in the eye, and Jensen was struck by how old the man looked; it looked like Jim had aged a hundred years since Jensen had last seen him. 'It requires the blood of the Slayer.’

Jensen breathed a sigh of relief; at least the bastard could be stopped. What was Jim so worried about? 'Okay, I'll go find Tellon, bleed on him a bit and then it's game over. I’m not seeing the problem here Jim?'

'This is a blood rite, Jensen; the amount of blood required to destroy Tellon is going to be significant. Losing that much blood would be very…detrimental.' Jensen breath caught in his throat at the haunted look in his Watcher’s eyes and all of a sudden he knew, he understood the look on Jim’s face when he’d first entered the library.

...he wouldn't survive the blood loss. Oh.

The library was eerily quiet, like the whole world had stopped. 

'Hmm…dying from blood loss. You know, I feel kind of cheated, I really didn't expect that was gonna be the way I was gonna kick it.' Jensen said quietly, his fingers trailing over the smooth surface of the table; it felt cold under his fingertips.

'Jensen...'

'I thought I'd get to go out in a blaze of glory, sort of a Butch Cassidy and Sundance kind of thing, not just bleeding out on the floor of some crypt.' He choked out a bitter laugh, 'Least I get to take the bastard with me though, right.'

'Jensen.' Jim stood and walked over to Jensen, reaching out for him. Jensen took a step back; he couldn't really handle that right then. 

'I...I've got to get to gym class. I'll see you after school and we can talk about where we think this summoning’s gonna go down so I can stop this guy before he freaking looks at anyone, alright?' Jensen didn't wait for Jim to answer before he practically ran out of the library. 

****

Jensen obviously didn't go to gym, that was a given, hell, if he got detention he’d be dead before he actually had to do it.

Dead.

Jensen wandered the streets of Sunnydale, for a long time, imagining his death in a million different ways. He'd known from the beginning that he was going to die, that it was as much his destiny to fight to save innocents as it was to die young. He just…he just hadn't expected it to happen so soon. There was so much that he hadn't done yet, so much that he still wanted to do. _Jesus_ , he was 17 years old, how could his life be over? It wasn't fair. Jensen kicked a rock and sent it flying across the road.

But what was the alternative? Let the beast ravage Sunnydale then move onto the next town till every human was dust. Let Misha and Danneel and Chris suffer an eternity of torment because he was too much of a coward to do what needed to be done? How selfish would that be? 

Jensen was man enough to admit that he was scared, though. Fucking terrified actually. Where would he go after all this was over? Had he earned his place in heaven after everything he’d done? After all the people he'd let die? Surely those sins meant that Heaven was pretty much a non-option for Jensen. 

Jensen stopped suddenly only to find himself outside Jared's door. Before he could stop himself, he reached up and knocked on the door; he didn’t care about what had happened between them, none of that mattered now, he just needed this. 

Jared swung the door open with a scowl, on his face, which quickly melted into a look of surprise. 'Jensen?'

'Um…hi, can I come in for a minute? I'll be quick I promise.' Jared frowned, clearly torn, but nodded and stood aside for Jensen to enter. 

Jensen bit his lip, not really knowing where to sit; there was only the sofa and the bed in the apartment. The sofa held too many memories of the two of them cuddled up together for him to be able to sit there and as much as Jensen wanted to be in Jared's bed, he knew that Jared didn't want him there. He opted for perching on the arm of the sofa, far away from the comfortable cushions and the painful memories that they held. 

Jensen swallowed as Jared leaned against the wall, watching him, his face back to the neutral mask Jensen had known when they’d first met. Jensen couldn’t look at that, so he fixed his eyes on the floor and asked, 'I just wanted to...to ask...what do you know about Heaven?' As soon as he’d seen Jared, he had known what he’d needed to ask.

Jared had been alive for over two hundred years; his knowledge of lore was staggering and he’d grown up in a time when religion was a fundamental part of people’s lives. Jensen, himself, wasn’t sure what he believed; he’d always hoped that there was something more, but he didn't know it in the way that he was sure that Jared did.

'Heaven? Why do you want to know about Heaven, Jensen?' Jared asked, a frown creasing his forehead.

'I just...I just want to know…if…if you make mistakes, I mean really bad mistakes in your life, does...does that mean you don't get to go to Heaven? Even if you're really sorry and would do _anything_ to take them back...are…are you banned from Heaven?' Jensen closed his eyes to stave off the tears he could feel building. He wasn’t sure whether it was the idea that he wasn’t worthy of Heaven or the certainty of his own death that was bringing them to his eyes. He wouldn't cry there, though, not in front of Jared, not when it was probably the last time he would ever see the other man. 

When Jensen opened his eyes, Jared was sitting next to him, holding one of his hands, and despite the chill from Jared’s cold skin, Jensen felt warmer than he had all day. 

When Jared spoke, his voice was soft and Jensen let it flow over him. 'We’ve all have made mistakes Jensen but with every fight we fight and every life we save, I like to think that we redeem ourselves just a little more in the eyes of the Lord. For some of us that takes a little more time, but I believe that God looks into our souls when we die and, if he sees goodness there, he forgives us our sins.' He stroked his thumb over Jensen's knuckles, and it was such a familiar action that Jensen couldn’t help leaning into the larger man’s body just slightly.

'You’re not damned, Jensen, you could never be. You’re the best person I’ve ever known, you're a hero. Don’t ever forget that.' _Then why didn’t you want me?_ Jensen didn’t ask that though, he already knew the answer to that question.

Jensen wasn’t all that sure that what Jared had said was true, he so wanted to believe it, _was_ desperate to believe it. But he had so much blood on his hands, how could he possibly make it to Paradise? 

When he looked up at Jared, knowing that it would be the last time he saw him, the pain Jensen felt was so acute, he felt like he was already dying. And maybe he was. Maybe he had been ever since the moment that Jared had told him that he didn’t want him.

'I…I have something that I need to tell you, okay, and you have to just let me get it out or…I…I won't be able to do it and I need to before…I just need to do it.' Jared's frown deepened but he nodded, still holding Jensen’s hand. 'I know it’s crazy and that I shouldn’t but…I think…I think I'm in love with you. I think I always have been.' 

'Jensen, I…'

'Don't! _Please_ , I don't expect you to say it back, I just wanted you to know.' Jensen kissed Jared chastely on the lips, pressing them to the other man's longer than he should have, but he was dying in two days and he would need these memories in Hell. 'Thank you, Jay.' 

Jensen stood up quickly and ran out the door, into the sunlight where he knew that Jared couldn't follow him. He finally let his tears fall.  
  
  



	21. Chapter Twenty-One.

** Chapter Twenty-One. **

** Jared. **

Jared stood watching the door, shocked and worried. 

He'd been desperate to tell Jensen that he loved him too, that he would do anything for him but he’d ended their relationship for a reason. And none of those reasons had changed in the weeks they’d been apart. He was no less of a monster then than he had been when he’d bitten from Jensen, no less of a danger to the Slayer. 

Jared shook his head and walked over to his drinks cabinet, pouring himself two fingers of scotch. Jared turned Jensen’s words over in his mind, trying to figure out what was going on. Jensen hadn’t contacted him since Jared had left him in that hospital room so something must have happened for him to seek Jared out now.

The life of the Slayer was taxing, physically and emotionally, Jared knew that, but Jensen had never seemed so close to breaking as he had just then. 

Jared didn't know what mistakes Jensen had been talking about but he was sure the death of the boy's Watcher weighed heavily on his conscience and he knew that Jensen felt guilty about any life he couldn’t save. Jensen seemed to see every life lost, every drop of blood spilt, as some kind of personal failure and the weight of that must have been damn near overwhelming.

But how could Jensen possibly think he was damned? Jared had meant what he’d said to Jensen; he was the best man that Jared had ever known, he was good to the core and no amount of blood spilt would ever tarnish that inherent goodness. 

Jared decided that he needed to speak to Beaver, despite their differences, since he would know better than anyone what was troubling Jensen. Jared grabbed his long jacket and sunglasses and made for the sewers.

****

** Jensen. **

Jensen tried to get himself under control again as he made his way back to school. He needed to calm down if he was going to be able to form an effective plan to take down the demon. It didn’t help that images of his mom, his sister, his friends, Jim and Jared played on a constant loop in his head. In two days’ time, he’d never see any of them again; he’d never be hugged and held by his mother, never kiss his baby sister good night, never hear Misha laugh, never hear Chris play his guitar and God, he’d even miss Danneel forcing him to watch Twilight for the umpteenth time just so she could stare at Taylor Lautner’s abs. 

And none of them, except Jim, would know what had happened to him. He knew that his friends would guess that he’d gotten into a fight and lost, but they wouldn’t really _know_ what had happened. And they were never going to, not if he could help it. 

And Jared. Would Jared even care that he was gone? He hadn’t spoken to Jensen in weeks, had cut him completely out of his life like what they’d had had meant nothing to him. And that thought hurt almost as much as Jared breaking up with him in the first place. It was enough to set off that familiar dull ache in his heart thinking that Jared wouldn’t miss him when Jensen, himself, couldn’t even imagine his feelings were the situation reversed. 

Jensen reached Sunnydale High and walked slowly to the library, schooling his features into a cool, professional mask. He could do this, he was born to do this. 

He was just about to push open the large library doors when he heard raised voices. _Jared_? What on earth was he doing there? 

‘…the Hell do you mean there’s nothing you can do?’

‘What I said, Jared; the vision was clear, there’s nothing I can do to change it.’ He heard Jim answer calmly but there was hint of steel in his voice. 

‘Well, that’s just not good enough, Beaver. It’s your fucking job to keep him safe. You can’t just watch him die.’ Jared yelled and Jensen heard something thud loudly against the wall; it sounded like one of Jim’s books. He could only imagine the look of Jim’s face at that. 

‘Don’t you think I’ve been trying? I’ve looked everywhere, Jared, there’s nothing. The only thing that stops the demon is Jensen’s blood; I can’t make that not, true no matter how much I might want to.’ Jim’s voice broke slightly at the end. 

‘But there…there has to be something.’ The desperation in Jared’s voice surprised Jensen; it was such a contrast to the cold tone he’d used when he’d had left Jensen a few weeks ago. Jensen heard frantic rustling, the turning of pages he assumed.

Jensen pushed open the doors and walked into the room; he knew that he was the only one who’d able to calm things down and keep the two of them from killing each other.

‘Jared, you need to stop.’ Jensen walked up to the vampire and took the book from his hands. ‘There’s nothing, Jim’s called everyone he knows, he’s looked in all his books; he can’t find a solution that’s not there. You _know_ that.’ He sat down in one of the wooden chairs, suddenly feeling drained. ‘It’s okay, it’s…it’s just my time, Jared, and at least I get to save some people while I’m at it. Maybe I can earn that place in Heaven after all.’ He smiled weakly, although he was pretty sure that it came across as more of a grimace.

Jared scowled and opened his mouth to reply, when a loud, ‘And what the fuck does that mean?’ _Crap!_ Jensen turned slowly to the library doors to see his friends standing there, frozen in place; Danneel had her hand over her mouth, Misha was as white as sheet and Chris, for once, looked shaken.

‘Guys, I…’

‘What’s going on, Jensen? And don’t you lie to us.’ Misha said in a hard tone that Jensen had never heard from his usually mellow best friend. 

‘Look, it’s nothin…’

‘ _Really_? Because from where I’m standing, it sure _is_ something.’ Jensen shot Jared a glare over his shoulder; he needed Jared to stop talking right now. 

‘Jared, just stop. They don’t need to know about this, so just drop it.’ He hissed through his teeth at the man behind him. 

‘They don’t need to know? Like _I_ didn’t need to know? None of us needs to know you’re gonna die in two days?’ Jared growled, his eyes blazing. Jensen had never seen the man so angry and it just didn’t make any sense. 

Silence rang out through the library. 

‘Jen?’ Danneel’s voice sounded small and suspiciously like she was close to tears, _Oh God_ , Jensen had made her cry. He bit his lip and turned back to his friends.

‘Is that true Jensen?’ Chis asked, his arm now around Danneel’s shoulders, holding her tightly as her shoulders shook. He couldn’t bring himself to answer that, not when his friends looked so devastated. Although, it seemed that his lack of denial was answer enough. 

‘Well fuck that.’ Misha said vehemently, ‘We’re not gonna let that happen.’

‘Mish…’

‘No Jensen, whatever you’re going up against, we’ll be right there with you and we’ll make sure you make it through. We _all_ will.’ Jensen would have smiled if he hadn’t been so close to crying; he couldn’t bring himself to tell them that it would make no difference in the end. Jensen would still have to die to destroy the demon; the only decision he needed to make was whether his friends were there to watch. And he could make that choice for them if he had to; there was no way he was going to put them through that. 

‘Just because we can’t actually go up against Tellon with you, doesn’t mean we can’t help you take it down and patch you up afterwards. We can be right outside or hidden somewhere - for the demon to hurt us, it’s got to be able to see us, right?’ Jared grinned, clearly satisfied that he’d come up with a solution.

Jensen made a quick decision and prayed that it was the right one. He shot a warning look at Jim and shook his head slightly, knowing that his Watcher would know what he wanted, even if he might not agree with him. Jim’s mouth closed, instantly, into a tight line. 

‘You know what, that’s a great idea, Jay. I hadn’t even thought of that but that might actually work.’ He grinned brightly at his friends. Jared winked at him and his friends suddenly looked hopeful instead of fraught. 

It was a shame that it was all a lie. 

Jensen would _never_ even think of taking his friends into battle with him against a demon as strong as Tellon, even if the guy hadn’t been able to kill them with just a look. What if Jensen lost? The vision had only shown that Jensen died; he might die before he could stop the demon and if his friends were anywhere close by when that happened then they would be the first to die. Well, no way was that happening. 

If Jensen died before the demon was slain, then the next Slayer would have to step up and kill it instead. So Jensen needed to make sure that his friends were far enough away from Ground Zero that they survived long enough for that to happen.

But he plastered a smile on his face as his friends planned what they were going to do to help Jensen, completely unaware that Jensen had already made plans of his own. 

****

Everything was in place; Jensen had planned it all down to the letter, he couldn’t afford for anything to go wrong. Jensen knocked on Jim’s door to collect the ingredients he needed for the location spell, ‘Hey Jim, can I come in for a minute?’

‘Of course, Jensen.’ The man wore the same sad expression he’d been wearing for the last two days, as well as the same wrinkled suit. 

Jensen bit his lip, he wasn’t all that good at things like this but it needed be said. ‘I just…wanted to say thanks. For everything. I know I’m not really textbook Slayer material, I’m pretty sure I put a few grey hairs on Sterling’s head, but I wanted you to know that I respected you. You made me want to try harder, be better, so…you know, thanks. And thanks for helping me with all this, I know you’re not all happy about it but I need to know that they’re all going to okay before I do this. You understand that right?’

‘I do understand you’re need to make sure that they’re safe, Jensen, but lying to your friends, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do. I mean, I know there are flaws in Jared’s plan but maybe if we were close by we could come in and…’

‘NO!’ Jensen shouted, ‘Sorry. But no, Jim, I’m not putting them _or_ you at risk. If you guys are anywhere near this demon when it rises then you’re gonna be in danger and I can’t allow that. I won’t. Besides, you know that I’m going to die, no matter what you guys do, and there’s no way I’m gonna let any of you be there to watch.’ Jensen begged, hoping that his Watcher would understand.

Jim nodded, ‘Alright Jensen, it’s your decision, I’ll respect that.’ Jensen smiled and reached for the bag of ingredients on the man’s desk and turned to the door, only to stop when Jim continued. ‘And Jensen, you were everything I hoped you’d be and more; never doubt that I’m proud of you.’

Jensen clenched his jaw; he’d never known that saying goodbye could be so hard, he’d never gotten the chance before. ‘Goodbye Jim.’

He was out the door before he Jim could answer. 

****

Jensen breathed deeply as he opened his front door, knowing this goodbye was going to be just as hard, maybe even harder than the last. 

Jensen walked into his mom’s room as she was putting away some of her clothes. She was so beautiful, graceful and poised, he was going to miss her so much. ‘Mom, can I talk to you?’

‘What is it, sweetheart? You okay?’ His mom turned around, looking concerned. It was no wonder, Jensen had heard the waver in his voice, so there was no way that his mom had missed it. 

‘Not really.’ He sat down heavily on her bed, playing with the edge of the covers, feeling the tears welling in her eyes.

Jensen felt his mom sit down beside him and pull him into her arms. Jensen went willingly, hiding his face in her shoulder, as the tears came. He cried as his mom held him. He let his tears say everything that he wanted to but couldn’t, let them give her the explanations she would never get to know, let them tell her how sorry he was for leaving her and Mack. 

‘I know I…I haven’t been doing so good over the last couple of years but I’m doing better now. I…have friends and I’m doing well in my classes again. I’m going to make you proud, mom, I promise.’ And he meant it, even if she would never know how.

. 

‘I am proud, honey, I’ve always been proud of you. I love you. I just want to see you happy again.’ She stroked her hand through his short hair and he leaned into the gentle touch. 

‘I love you too mom.’ They stayed silently like that, for a long time, until Jensen could see the sky darkening outside the window and knew that it was time for him to go. He pulled away to say his last goodbye. 

Mack was lying on her bed, reading, when he knocked. 

‘How’s it going Squirt?’ He smiled down at her.

‘Don’t call me that, asshole.’ Jensen raised an eyebrow at that.

‘Mack...’ He warned, just because he was only going to be around for another couple of hours didn’t stop him being her big brother. And he was that before he was the Slayer, she and his Mom were the most important things in his life.

‘Sorry.’ She said sheepishly, ‘I should totally have just gone with ‘freak’ like I wanted to.’ She grinned at him and it was such an easy, familiar expression that Jensen choked out a laugh and pulled his younger sister into a hug. ‘Jen, what on earth are you doing?’ She tried to sound indignant but he could hear the worry in her voice as well; they hadn’t hugged like this in years, not since Mack had gotten ‘too old’ for hugs from her big brother. 

_Just_ _ memorising how it feels to hug you. _ ‘Nothing, just wanted a hug if that’s alright.’ He said into her hair, his voice suspiciously thick.

‘Yeah course it is Jen, it’s always alright.’ Mack’s voice was soft and she brought her arms up around his back, her hands moving in soothing circles. Clearly, she could read him much better than he had thought.

‘Mack, you know I love you, right? Despite all the fights and the crap, I was always glad that you were my sister.’

‘Jen...what…?’ His sister was starting to sound distressed, and that was precisely what Jensen didn’t want.

‘It’s alright, Squirt, just thought that I didn’t really say that as often as I should.’ He pulled out of the hug to grin at her.

‘Well I _am_ awesome.’ She smiled back, ‘Love you too, Jen.’ She gave him a quick peck on the cheek like she used to when she was younger. Jensen got up from the bed quickly before he started crying again, his sister wouldn’t understand that. 

‘See you later Mack.’ He said leaving the room, his hand held on his cheek. 


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two.

 

** Chapter Twenty-Two. **

** Jensen. **

They were all safe. 

Jim had faked a call to Jensen’s mom telling her that Jensen’s aunt had had a fall and that she needed to go down and visit her in New York. She’d then called Jensen and told him that she was taking his sister up there that night and had asked whether or not he wanted to come; he’d begged off on the pretense of having an important test. 

He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the car drive away, out of town, and far away from the Summoning.

That had been Jared’s idea but now Jared’s plan splintered into Jensen’s. And this one was only known by him and Jim. 

Jim would wait for Jensen’s signal and then send Jared and his friends to a completely different location to the Summoning. Jensen only hoped that this would all be over before any of them smelled the con. 

****

Jensen stood up and wiped the dust off his trousers. He picked up the map of the town off the floor, looking at the shining path traced on the paper that would lead Jensen to his target. He started jogging; he knew where he needed to go.

****

An hour later, he stood outside the church. The beast had already risen; Jensen had needed it to be above ground to track it so he’d had no chance of stopping the Summoning ritual. He threw open the doors and watched the last worshipper crumble to dust, with a flare of red hot fire, as their soul was swallowed into hell. 

As Jensen entered, the demon turned to look at him and Jensen took an involuntary step back. That was one ugly fucker; it was easily seven feet tall, with red horns curling away from its skull; its skin was scared, a hideous cross between snakeskin and scales, and coloured a dark, rotten green. It had bright red eyes which latched onto every movement that Jensen made; obviously surprised that Jensen was still standing and not a pile of dust.

‘Sorry, but that’s not gonna work on me.’ Jensen pulled out the silver knife he’d brought with him. He needed to get into the ritual circle that the worshippers had used to call the demon, but the creature was in the way, so it looked like Jensen would have to do some fighting after all. _Good_ , he wanted to make the bastard bleed before he destroyed it so its brethren thought twice before coming up to their plane in future. 

‘Slayer.’ It hissed, its red eyes narrowing. Damn.

‘Awesome, so you know who I am and here I thought this was gonna be awkward. Hey how about instead of my killing you, you just go back to where you came from and we call it even?’ Jensen suggested, moving forward and spinning the knife in his hand, planning on how best to get the demon out of his way.

A loud, cold laugh boomed in the church, echoing off the walls and Jensen swore that he could feel it in his bones. ‘I do not think so, little Slayer. I think I will break you apart, piece by piece, and then I will send the rest of this pathetic world to Hell after you.’

Jensen sighed loudly, ‘Sorry but that’s really not gonna work for me, but remember I gave you the choice, buddy, so don’t blame me when I kick your ass.’ Jensen quickly stepped up onto one of the pews next to him and launched off it, planting a kick in the beast’s broad chest. Jensen’s leg jarred at the contact and he fell to the floor, stunned. The demon remained unmoved and unharmed as if Jensen hadn’t touched it at all.

Jesus, _that_ hurt. Jensen jumped up and took a step backwards. He did a flip, trying to catch the demon off balance, and planted a fist in the demon side. Nothing. Well except that it felt like he’d just broken his hand; the creature felt like it was made of stone. Okay, so strength alone clearly wasn’t going to cut it; Jensen was just going to have to be faster. 

As he played through several different strategies in his head, the demon moved quickly and closed powerful claw around Jensen’s throat. Jensen brought his hands up, scrabbling at the claws cutting off his air supply, but to no avail.

The demon brought its snout close to Jensen’s face and sniffed, ‘I can smell the power in you, little one, and once I kill you not one of my brothers will question my right to rule whatever is left of this puny world.’ 

‘ _Jesus_ , man, ever heard of a breath mint?’ Jensen wheezed out. If Jensen was going to die he was, at least, going to get the last word. He brought up his silver knife and slashed at the claws. There was a sharp hiss as the blade made contact, and Jensen could smell burning, before he was abruptly released. He slumped to the floor, gasping for precious air, and rubbed at his sore neck. Jensen worried for a second about covering up the marks at school tomorrow but then he remembered that there wasn’t going to be a tomorrow for him. 

‘What is that?’

‘That, my scaly friend, is pure consecrated silver carved with about a hundred different runes to protect against filthy things like you.’ Jensen answered, his voice rough. He was sure that if he could just distract the demon then he could get behind it and into the circle, _staying_ in it would be a problem though. 

An idea popped into Jensen’s mind; it was pretty damn risky but what about this plan wasn’t. He knew that the demon wouldn’t leave him alone long enough to complete the ritual; Jensen was sure that it knew that Jensen’s blood was the key to its destruction. Jensen would have to convince the demon that he was no longer a threat so that it would leave and he could get this done. And there was only one way to do that, but _man,_ it was gonna hurt. 

‘You know you really are the ugliest son of a bitch I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot, believe me. I mean really? Was hell that bad that you tried to scrap your own face off. Not a good look, dude.’ That earned him nothing but a slight narrowing of the demon’s eyes. Jensen was going to have to really to go for it then, insult the thing that demon’s prized above all else – their power. ‘And really, how powerful can you possibly be? You need a bunch of ‘World of Warcraft’ geeks to raise you. _Come_ _on_ , I’ve met scarier bastards than you at school.’

The punch was not unexpected; his face exploded in pain as the meaty fist connected with his jaw, snapping his head backwards. The blow to the gut was a little more surprising, considering his body was still trying to keep its jaw attached. He tried to bring the silver knife back up but felt his wrist stopped and held in a tight grasp. Jensen cried out as he felt the bone snap in the demon’s claws and he dropped the knife, hearing it clatter on the floor. 

‘You want to speak of weak, Slayer, we have barely even begun and you are already half dead. I think the only weak one here is you, mortal.’  
Jensen felt himself hauled to his feet and thrown against the doors of the church, his head slamming, alarmingly hard, against the wood, blurring his vision. He thought for a moment that he was going to throw up but he needed to stay conscious and alert, just a little while longer. 

The beast followed as Jensen got up and grabbed his stake to defend himself. He felt it wrenched from his grip, though, and plunged deep into his thigh. Jensen’s leg buckled under the pain. Then the stake was pulled out and he felt the demon press its hand to the wound. Agony didn’t describe the pain he was in. 

A burning ache ran up his whole leg and concentrated at his thigh. 

‘Must stop any of that pesky blood of yours escaping now.’ It cauterised the skin around the wound and with the pain and the, God,the _smell_ , the urge to vomit was too much and Jensen threw up on the floor. ‘Enough games now Slayer, I have a world to ravage, goodbye.’ And with that, Jensen found himself soaring through the air towards the back of the church and towards the chalk circle. 

Jensen hit the ground with a sickening crunch and forced his body to lie still. Jensen stopped breathing; holding his breath as he had been taught. He heard the demon walk towards him, its long claws scraping on the stone.

Jensen was pretty sure that he looked dead after that beating, now he just needed to make sure that he didn’t move. A claw ran down his throat and across his face; he stayed still. The dark chuckle confirmed that the demon, indeed, thought that he was dead and no longer a threat. It rose to its feet and walked out of the church. The door slamming loud and ominous in the empty church.

Jensen remained still for a moment to ensure that the beast was truly gone. Then he opened his eyes and tried to move. His body felt like it had been hit by a semi but at least his plan had worked. He was where he needed to be and the demon was out of the way for him to complete the ritual. He probably could have done with a little less of an ass-kicking though.

Jensen sat up, wincing; he was sure that he’d broken his arm and a few ribs in that last fall but, thankfully, it was the same arm as his already broken wrist so he still had one good hand that he could use for this. His leg screamed at him, the pain almost enough to take him under, and it would once he was finished, once this was all over. 

Jensen was lying next to the make shift altar under the church’s stained glass windows. Jensen grabbed one of the ceremonial knives from the table and dragged himself in the centre of the white circle.

Once inside, he sat still, breathing deeply for a moment, as the world titled violently and he struggled not to be sick again. Then Jensen took the knife in his unbroken hand and slashed deeply across his right wrist several times, hissing as the blade cut into the skin. He used his broken hand to make similar slashes in his left wrist, although the wound came out jagged due to his inability to hold the knife properly. It didn’t really matter though; the cut was deep enough to have blood already pouring from the wound onto the floor. 

Minutes later, Jensen was still sitting in the circle but the once white chalk had gone a rather odd pinkish colour with the growing pool of blood around Jensen. He felt sick and weak but, at least, he was certain that this would be sufficient to finish off the demon. 

Sure enough, the doors banged open again and the demon strode through, ‘How is this possible? You were dead Slayer.’

‘Correction, I _will_ be dead in about ten minutes but, motherfucker, I’m sure as Hell taking you with me.’ Jensen smirked, knowing victory was his, one last time.

‘NOOO!’ The demon shrieked but even as it started to move towards Jensen, its body started to shake. Jensen watched as the demon melted right in front of his eyes, screaming as its body disintegrated into nothing. 

Jensen smiled, it was done; everyone was safe and finally he let the darkness take him. 

 

 


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three.

** Chapter Twenty-Three. **

 

** Jared. **

 

‘Why isn’t he here?  Wasn’t he meant to be here before us, Jared?’  Danneel asked as they entered the large mausoleum, finding it empty.

 

Jared clenched his jaw but stayed silent; Jensen should have been there setting up runes, two hours ago, according to their plan.  Something wasn’t right. 

 

‘Jared, where is he?’  Misha asked, his worry over-riding the usual disdain in his voice when he spoke to him. 

 

‘He’s not here.’  He didn’t voice the rest of his fears as to where Jensen might be; he should have known that Jensen would try something like this.  He’d given in too damn quickly back at the library.  Stupid.  Jared dug his cell out of his pocket.

 

‘Well thanks for that, Genius, I know he’s not _here_.  So where the fuck _is_ he?’  Misha snapped.

 

Jared ignored Misha and pressed the phone to his ear.  ‘Where is he Beaver and, I swear to God, if you lie to me you’ll be eating your meals out a straw for the next year.’  He growled.  Jared listened to the Watcher’s answer which confirmed his fears, ‘How could you do that, you fool?  If he dies, Beaver, there’s nowhere on earth that you’ll be hide from me.’  Jared threw the phone into the wall, shattering it, as he turned to leave.  He grabbed the supplies and threw them onto his bike. 

 

‘Jared, what is it?’  He didn’t answer as he grabbed his helmet.  He felt a body slide on behind him as he climbed onto his bike.  ‘I’m fucking coming with you; you’ll have to kill me to stop me, vampire.’  Misha’s voice was implacable and as much as he didn’t like the man Jared had to respect his nerve. 

 

****

 

Jared skidded the bike to a stop outside the church, barely waiting for it to stop moving before he leapt off and ran through the heavy doors.

 

His sharp eyes scanned the room quickly, taking in every corner and shadow, searching for the Slayer.  There was a pile of ashes in the centre of the room, the remains of the demon, but that wasn’t what had Jared nearly crashing to the hard concrete floor.  Jared smelled the blood before he saw him.  _Jensen_.  Jensen was laid out in the centre of the pentagram, his wrists slit open, and he was covered in blood.  His own blood.

 

Jared looked on in shock; there was just so much blood.  There was…there was no way that someone could survive losing that much.

 

‘Move Jared.’  Jared was shoved out of the way as Misha ran over to the Slayer, kneeling down beside him. 

 

‘Misha, he’s de…’

 

‘Don’t you say it, Jared, don’t you fucking say it.’

 

‘I can’t…’  Jared said, backing away towards the door, he couldn’t do this, he couldn’t touch Jensen’s lifeless body.  Jared had given the Slayer up to keep him safe and he’d lost him anyway.  It wasn’t right and it wasn’t fair, someone would pay for this.  Jared’s hands tightened into fists as he felt the lust for blood and revenge sweep through his body.

 

‘Get your fucking ass over here, Jared, I can’t move him by myself.’  Misha shot back at him, his hands skimming lightly over Jensen’s still body.

 

‘But…’

 

Misha looked up from Jensen, then, his blue eyes blazing, ‘I haven’t got time for your bullshit, Jared.  _Jensen_ doesn’t have time.  Right now you’re going to help me, Goddamnit, and then we’re gonna get him to the hospital; you can have your breakdown later.  But not while Jensen’s dying.’  _But he’s already dead._   ‘Jared!’ 

 

The shout had Jared moving before he could even think, ‘He’s not breathing,’  Misha’s breath hitched on the last word, ‘I need to start CPR,’  He ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and passed it to Jared,  ‘Tie this round his wrists to stop the bleeding so he doesn’t lose any more blood before we get him on the bike.  Jared ripped the material in half, wound a loop around each of Jensen’s bloody wrists and pressed tight over the wounds.  Nothing.  No flinch, not even a twitch, and Jared’s dead heart cracked just a little more. 

 

Misha manoeuvred Jensen’s body, so that he was lying on his back, and tipped Jensen’s head back.  Jared could hear the other boy muttering as started to press, rhythmically, down on the Jensen’s chest,

 

‘C _ome on Jensen.’_

 

_‘Don’t you fucking do this.’_

 

_‘Breathe, damn it.’_

 

Every five compressions, Misha breathed into Jensen’s mouth and it was probably a sign of the seriousness of the situation, that Jared didn’t feel the sting of jealousy that he normally would have. 

 

Endless moments later and Jared was still holding Jensen’s wrists firmly in his hands and Misha was still pounding away at Jensen’s chest. 

 

‘Misha…’  Jared choked out, ‘Misha, it’s over.’  He reached over to the boy’s shoulder to stop him, and was shocked to find the boy crying, when he looked over his shoulder at Jared.  Misha looked completely devastated, Jared could understand that.  It felt like someone had hollowed out his chest and torn his heart to pieces. 

 

‘NO! No, you might want to give up on him, that’s what you _do_ , isn’t Jared?  But some of us…some of us…I would never have given him up, never.’  He sniffed.  ‘And I won’t now, so if you don’t care enough to stay then get the hell out of here and I’ll save him myself.’  Misha yelled, still pushing at Jensen’s chest.

 

Jared growled and held Jensen’s wrists tighter, but kept his mouth closed.  The boy was right; he _had_ thrown Jensen away, hurt him, who knew how this would have turned out if Jensen had still trusted him?  He lowered his head and pressed a kiss to each of Jensen’s bloody palms.  Oh god, how could he have let this happen?

 

A loud gasp had Jared’s head snapping up. 

 

‘Jen?’  Misha panted.  ‘Jensen, can you hear me?’

 

Jensen started coughing and rolled over, throwing up all over the floor, before passing out again.  But he was breathing, he was goddamn breathing.  Jared didn’t need to be told; he scooped up the Slayer and ran with him out to his bike.  He barely even registered Misha climbing aboard behind him as he placed Jensen gently in front of him, one arm wrapped tightly around his waist and the other holding the handlebars.

 

They sped off into the night to the hospital.

 

Someone had seen fit to give him back his Slayer; there was no way that Jared was losing him again. 

 

****

 

Jensen reached an arm out to turn off his alarm; the incessant beeping was giving him a major headache but it didn’t work. He gingerly opened his eyes, hoping to see what the problem was, only to shut them tightly again when fire stormed through his brain at the bright lights.  _What the hell?_   He felt like he’d been hit by a truck, a really angry truck.  Did trucks get angry?  Shaking off his muddled thoughts, he squinted his right eye open, just a little, hoping to get some clue as to what was going on.

 

‘Jensen?’ 

 

‘Wha…’  He slurred.

 

‘Jensen, it’s Jim, open your eyes.’

 

 _No._   Jensen thought vehemently, he was never opening his eyes ever again, thank you very much.

 

‘Come on, Jensen, the doctor needs to be check you out, open your eyes.’

 

‘Don’t wann…’  Jensen tried again, why wouldn’t Jim just let him go back to sleep, the grumpy bastard.

 

‘Open your fucking eyes, Jensen.’  There was a growl in his ear and the shock had his eyes springing open.

 

Big mistake!  ‘Shit!’  He groaned, blinking rapidly against the light and trying to bring his hand up to rub at his eyes, only to find that he couldn’t move his arm.

 

As his vision started to clear, Jensen noticed that he was in hospital bed, no huge surprise, it wasn’t his first time after all, but the number of tubes connected to him, yeah, that was kind of new.  Maybe he really _had_ been hit by a truck.

 

‘Jensen.’  Said a new voice and he moved his head slowly in its direction, to what looked like a huge sea of greenness…pretty. 

 

‘Hmmm.’  He battled clumsily at the light that was being shone in his eyes.  _What the hell are you doing?  What part of me not wanting to open my eyes made you think that was okay, dumbass._

 

There was a chuckle, ‘His pupils are equal and responsive and from the look on his face, he seems to be coming round, albeit it a little slowly.  We won’t know if there’s been any lasting damage from his prolonged oxygen deprivation until he properly wakes up but from the scans, I think there’s a good chance that he’s going to be okay.  He was really lucky.’ 

 

 _Lucky?!_ Jensen didn’t feel very lucky right then.  ‘We’re going to put him back to sleep for a couple more hours, let his body get the rest it needs, before waking him up properly.’  And _that_ just sounded _awesome,_ he might even come to like this doctor now that he was talking about sleeping and not shining that really bright light thing right in his fucking eye.   That was his last thought before he was sent back into the blissful quiet of oblivion.

 

****

 

His second awakening was almost as painful as the first but at least this time, Jensen remembered where he was.  He was in the hospital.  He opened his eyes, preparing himself for the brain-frying pain that had accompanied that action before but, thankfully, it didn’t come.  He just had a faint dancing pain behind his eyes but he could deal with that.

 

Jensen looked around the room; it was darker, probably the middle of the night and he caught sight of Jim sitting in the corner, a book perched on his lap.

 

‘Jim.’  He croaked.  The man’s head shot up and he walked quickly over to Jensen’s bed, picking up a glass of water and holding the straw to Jensen’s lips.  Once he’d drunk enough to wet his throat so that he could talk, Jensen pulled his mouth away, ‘So, since the world isn’t a big fiery ball of ash, I’m thinking it worked.’  He tried a smile but the side of his mouth stung and his expression pulled into a grimace instead.

 

‘Yes it worked Jensen.’  The man said quietly. 

 

‘What is it Jim, what happened?  Is everyone okay?’  Jensen tried to sit up only to be hampered by what looked like a million wires attached to every single part of him.  Jim’s hand rested back on his chest and pushed him down.

 

‘Everyone’s fine Jensen.  You did great.’  He smiled sadly, ‘I just shouldn’t have let you talk me into allowing you do it.  You nearly died, Jensen.  Well you _did_ die, several times actually; you’ve been in a coma for four days.  I thought…I thought we’d lost you.’  The man sounded close to tears and Jensen didn’t want that; it hadn’t been Jim’s fault, it was who Jensen was, it was his duty.

 

‘Jim, come on, man, you know I had to do it.  It’s my job.’  He said soothingly, wishing that he could lift his heavy arms to pat the man on the shoulder but that seemed like an impossibly task right then. 

 

‘I don’t…I don’t care, Jensen.  You should never have had to do that, sacrifice that.  It won’t happen again.’  The man said resolutely, his mouth set in a firm line.  Jensen didn’t want to argue with the man and he didn’t want to upset him further; Jim would come around, this was just the fall out of an emotional couple of days, that was all, so he just agreed.

 

‘Okay Jim.  No more dying.’  He smiled, ignoring the pull at his lip.

 

Jim just snorted and shook his head, ‘Not funny, kid.’  Jim reached down and gently squeezed Jensen’s shoulder, ‘You did real good, I’m proud of you.’  Jensen felt his own eyes tear up at that.

 

‘Thanks, Jim.’

 

 

 


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four.

  
 

** Chapter Twenty-Four. **

 

** Jensen. **

Jensen and Jim’s relationship had gotten back to normal pretty quickly after Jensen had been let out of the hospital two weeks later. _After_ he’d passed a psych evaluation too, of course…now that was a barrel of laughs and no mistake. Trying to convince a doctor that you _weren’t_ trying to kill yourself when you’d slit your wrists so deep, that you nearly bled out in minutes, whilst not being able to tell her that your blood was actually the key to destroying some badass demon, was kind of difficult. So he had fallen back on the usual teenage angst story and explained that his boyfriend had dumped him and that he’d been an emotional wreck but that he was dealing with it alright now. Didn’t stop her giving him a shedload of depression and counselling booklets, though. Awesome.

His friends were a different matter altogether. Misha had punched him when he first saw him and then pulled him into a tight hug, refusing to let go until Jensen had warned that he was in danger of passing out from lack of air. Danni had slapped him, walked off and hadn’t spoken to him since, and of course Chris had just shrugged, given him an apologetic smile, and run after her. 

Jensen wasn’t too worried, Misha had said that she was simmering down, slowly, and that he just needed to give it another week and she should be back down to room temperature again and ready to talk to him. Without hitting him…maybe.

Jared, well, Jared was nowhere to be found. He hadn’t come back to the hospital since Jensen had first woken up nor was he at his apartment when Jensen had called once he’d been released. Maybe…he’d finally skipped town after all? The sharp pain in Jensen’s chest he felt had nothing to do with what the demon had done.

His mom and sister walked around him, on eggshells, watching him every moment of the day, it made living his secret life damn near impossible; luckily he was off duty for the next couple of weeks - something even he couldn’t argue with. The deep gashes on his arms needed time to heal before he went rolling around in any graveyards, not to mention the multitude of other injuries he’d sustained in the big fight.

****

A week after Jensen had gotten home, he was getting ready for bed when he felt a draft behind him. He whirled round, grimacing as his broken hand instinctively clenched into a fist. A second later, he felt lips on his and the pain in his hand, and hell, _everything else_ , was forgotten. The scent of Jared filled his nostrils and he moaned into the other man’s mouth, as a pair of large hands slid down to the small of his back and pulled him against a large body. 

The kiss was hard and passionate, as though Jared was trying to touch every part of him and it almost felt like he was. The man’s hands roamed all over his body, gentling over his wounds, then holding on tight to any unblemished part of him.

After what seemed like an eternity, Jared pulled back a little, resting his forehead against Jensen’s. ‘Never again, Jensen. You don’t _ever_ do that again.’

‘Okay.’ Jensen rasped out, breathy from arousal and confusion. Jared had told him that he didn’t want him, hadn’t he? ‘What? What is this?’ He was almost afraid to ask, afraid to try again with the man who had broken his heart so completely. 

‘It’s us. I’m sorry about before, I’m sorry for being an idiot. I was only trying to protect you from me.’ Jensen went to interrupt but Jared cut him off with a chaste kiss and continued, ‘I thought you’d be safer without me in your life but it seems that you’re going to be in danger no matter what I do. And I…I’m not strong enough to stay away from you anymore.’ He looked down into Jensen’s green eyes and added, ‘I don’t want to be.’

‘Really? You’re sure, Jared?’ As much as it pained Jensen to say it, he had to make sure that Jared really wanted this, he couldn’t handle being cast aside again. He had barely survived it the first time; there was no way that he’d survive it a second.

‘I’ve never been more sure of anything in my whole life. You’re everything to me and I can’t live another day where you’re not mine.’ He kissed Jensen again, pushing him gently against the wall, clearly mindful of Jensen’s still healing body. 

Once Jared released his lips, a thought sprung to Jensen’s mind, ‘Where have you been? I looked for you but you were just…just gone.’ He tried to keep the accusation out of his voice but wasn’t all that successful.

‘I was hunting down everyone who had ever had any dealings with that demon. I needed something to do while you were sleeping, and since the demon was dead I couldn’t vent my anger on it, so I found its followers and let’s just say, they won’t be summoning _anything,_ anytime soon.’ Jensen knew that he should’ve been horrified; the followers had probably been human but his self-righteousness was somewhat tempered by the fact that they had intended to destroy the world and everyone with it. 

‘Oh, right.’ It was all he could think to say. He yawned, suddenly remembering the time and why he had come up to his bedroom in the first place. ‘I’m gonna go to bed Jared.’ He said stepping towards his bed, he didn’t turn around as he added, ‘Do you wanna…maybe stay. You could maybe just hold me for a bit?’ He climbed into the bed, still not looking at Jared, and lay down on his side. Jensen smiled as he felt the bed dip behind him and an arm wind round his middle. 

‘Sleep, Jen.’ Jared kissed the back of Jensen’s neck and Jensen obeyed.  
  
  



	25. Chapter Twenty-Five.

Where There’s Life, There’s Hope.

 

Disclaimer : Clearly this is an AU story. I do not own any of the actors in this story, especially not Jared or Jensen, they all belong to themselves. Jared and Jensen are not in a relationship, have never been and have no desire to be in a relationship; they are both happily married and not to each other which is awesome for both of them. The story is based on ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ created by Joss Whedon, aired in 1997 by Mutant Enemy Productions and several of the storylines follow the lines of some of the episodes- see individual chapters for those warnings. I do not own any of the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ franchise. There are also ideas from the TV show ‘Supernatural,’ aired in 2005 and created by Eric Kripke and is now part of the CW network, in the story. I do not own Supernatural or any of its concepts or characters. There are also elements of the 1992 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' film directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui - I do not own the rights to that either. No money was made from this story. This is a COMPLETED STORY.

 **Rating** : R

 **Pairings** : Jared/Jensen, Misha/Jensen, Chris/Danneel.

 **Word Count:** 2,015 words for this chapter. Around 90,000 words in total.

 **Warnings** : Non-con (incubus), non-con touching, male/male sexual relations (explicit), violence, swearing, adult situations, underage – Jensen’s 17 when he begins his relationship with Jared. Age flip- Jared is a load of years older than Jensen in this story, size difference, severe angst for Jensen and Jared, gore, horror, torture, suicide attempt, self-harm.

 **Spoiler** : Slight spoiler for the episode 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered' from the 1997 Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.

 **Author’s note:** Words in italics are set in the past. The story is written from multiple points of view. I thought we really needed a couple of funny chapters after all that angst and I really loved this episode in Buffy so I thought a J2 version would be even better! Lol.

 

** Chapter Twenty-Five. **

 

** Jensen. **

 

Jensen woke up to the shrill call of his alarm clock, God, he really hated that bitch. The first thing that he was aware of, before even opening his eyes, was that there was someone else in his bed. A very male someone. He tried to remember if Jared had stayed over the night before. Wait…Jared never stayed the whole night, he was always gone before the morning since, Jensen was too scared that his mom might walk in unannounced and that would lead to all sorts of awkward conversations and revisited safe sex talks. And once was really enough on that score.

 

Jensen gingerly opened one eye, squinting over at the other side of the bed. All he could see was the other person’s hair peeking out from under his blue sheets…and that was definitely not Jared’s hair, it looked an awful lot like…

 

‘MISHA!’ Jensen leapt out of the bed and fell promptly on his ass.

 

The rest of Misha’s head joined his hair, out of the covers, and the smile on the guy’s face was a mix of seductive and serene as if he woke up in Jensen’s bed every day. ‘Hey, Jen.’

 

‘Um, Meesh, what…what are you doing in my bed, dude?’ Jensen was pretty sure that they hadn’t gone out drinking the night before which would really be the only logical explanation for this rather disturbing turn of events. He remembered patrolling and then coming home at about one and going to sleep, that was it. No drinking. No getting drunk. So there really was no rational explanation for this.

 

And. Oh God, was Misha _naked_ under there? From the bare chest slowly revealing itself as the covers slid down, Jensen would go with ‘yes’. Right, he was so burning those sheets and his boxers later.

 

‘Sleeping, what else would I be doing?’ Christ, why did Misha always have to be so damn obtuse?

 

‘Yeah…no…I mean, I get that you were sleeping which is great, sleep is always good, but why are you doing it in _my_ bed instead of your own?’ Jensen babbled. He hadn’t really ever had to have a conversation like this before; it was a little disconcerting to say the least.

 

‘Oh that. I woke up this morning and had to see you and when I got here, you looked so lonely and beautiful that I just had to join you.’ _Beautiful?_ Oookaay, there was definitely something not right here, either Misha was on drugs (which was pretty damn unlikely since the guys was too obsessed with his GPA to risk losing any brain cells to weed) or there was something Supernatural at play. Knowing Jensen’s fun filled life, he was going to go with the latter.

 

‘Alright, Meesh, we’re gonna get ready and go and see Jim, okay. He’ll know how to…how to…’ He waved an arm up and down in Misha’s general direction, ‘Fix this...you.’

 

‘Alright, baby.’ Jensen groaned, Misha was gonna be real embarrassed when this thing wore off. And, woah, Misha threw back the sheets and was most definitely naked and Jensen had just seen way more of his friend than he had ever wanted to. Yep, Misha was gonna be really really embarrassed later.

 

****

 

They walked into school and Jensen was distinctly aware of the dozens of eyes following their movements. Or _his_ movements to be more precise. He was also acutely aware of Misha’s hand trailing _(don’t think caressing, don’t think caressing)_ up and down his arm. Jensen tried to ignore it; he had bigger things to worry about right then, like the hordes of people who were suddenly much closer than before.

 

This supernatural whatever was extending far wider than Jensen had thought and he was just thinking about making a run for it when someone squeezed his ass. He looked over his shoulder and ‘horror’ didn’t even begin cover the feeling when he saw who the perpetrator was; he’d never be able to look at Mr Johnson the same way again. Jensen broke free of his friend’s clutching arm, turned tail and ran out of school.

 

****

 

Jensen sat in the graveyard, surrounded by all the Supernatural books he had had in his room, the ones that Jim had insisted he read. Jensen hadn’t opened, or had any intention of opening, any of them before that moment but he was really fucking glad that he had taken them home now. He flicked frantically through the pages, looking for something to explain why he had suddenly turned into a people magnet. Jensen had never been all that good at research. Huh? Maybe Jim had a point after all.

 

A sound behind him had Jensen jumping up and reaching for the stake in the back of his pants. He sighed a breath of relief when he saw that it was just Jared.

 

‘Oh thank Go…’ That was a far as he got before Jared threw him up against a tree, driving the air from his lungs.

 

Jared nipped down his throat and learned in close to smell Jensen’s neck, ‘You smell fucking amazing, Slayer, you have no idea what I want to do to you.’ Jensen had a pretty good idea, actually, since he could feel something hard and long pressing into his stomach that he was damn sure wasn’t a stake. ‘And you’d fucking let me, wouldn’t you? You’re such a slut for me, Slayer.’ Jensen cried out when Jared bit down hard on his neck, hard enough to draw blood.

 

That was _it_ ; Jensen was pretty much done with being felt up against his will and, as much as he got off on Jared manhandling him, he really wasn’t in the mood right then. He needed to fix this and Jared needed to back the Hell off.

 

‘Jared, get off me.’ He shoved at Jared’s chest but the vampire didn’t seem too bothered by it and just pushed Jensen back against the tree again.

 

‘Not a chance, Slayer, not now I’ve got you where I want you. I’m gonna make you scream, baby.’ Jensen felt his zipper being undone and a pair of large hands were shoved down the back of his pants to cup his ass. That was way farther than they’d gone and Jensen really wasn’t ready for that, especially not in the middle of the day with Jared under the influence of…whatever-the-fuck he was under the influence of.

 

This time when Jensen shoved Jared, the vampire had to take a step back. Jensen didn’t wait a second before he landed a punch to the man’s jaw then one to his ribs. Jensen grabbed the vial of holy water that he kept in his jacket pocket and threw it at the vampire’s chest, causing the man to stumble backwards as his skin burned and hissed.

 

‘You…little…bi’ Jared didn’t get any further before he slumped to the ground, unconscious. Jensen looked up to see Jim standing close by, a tranquiliser gun in his hand.

 

Before Jensen let himself relax he called over to Jim, ‘Hey, Jim, you’re not having really inappropriate thoughts about me right now, right?’ He pulled up his trousers, feeling his cheeks heat at the thought of his Watcher finding him so exposed in the middle of the graveyard. Jensen made sure that Jared was safety in the shade of the trees before glancing back up at his Watcher, waiting for the desired response.

 

Jensen was fairly certain that Jim was unaffected since he hadn’t tried to jump Jensen yet. Jensen had decided against seeking his help at school since he didn’t think he would ever have been able to look the guy in the eye again if Jim had decided to grab his ass like Mr Johnson had. He wasn’t sure whether the shiver down his spine was due to the idea of Jim grabbing his ass or the memory of Johnson _actually_ doing it.

 

‘No Jensen, you’re safe from my attentions. It’s just a shame about everyone else.’ The man’s smile was grave and Jensen really hoped that Jim knew how to fix this, he usually sorted out Jensen’s messes for him and this would really be a great time for him to continue that awesome tradition.

 

‘Hey, not that I’m not grateful that you don’t suddenly want my ass but why are you the only one who seems to be immune?’

 

Jim pulled a chain out from under his shirt. ‘Got a talisman on here against pretty much every type of curse and spell out there. Some of them are originals, some are just replicas, but they all do the job and keep me protected from anything the Supernatural side might want to throw at me or my Slayer.’ Jensen nodded his respect, the guy was good.

 

‘Moving onto more pressing issues, do have any idea what might be causing this clusterfuck?’ Jensen asked, praying that the answer was ‘yes.’

 

‘I think it’s a spell, given how wide spread it is and its small focus. It was something definitely directed at you either to make you vulnerable or to get you to do something that the Caster wanted. I think we should perform a location spell to find out where the magic originated from and maybe we’ll find the witch or warlock behind all this.’ Jensen nodded; that plan sounded good, and it was better than anything that he’d come up with, not that he’d come up with much of anything. He was definitely sailing ( _drowning_ ) in unchartered waters here.

 

‘Hey, how long is that gonna kept Jared down, and what did you shoot him up with?’ Jensen nodded his head in the direction of his boyfriend’s unconscious body, well he hoped that Jared would still be his boyfriend after he realised that it was Jensen’s Watcher who had taken him down.

 

Jim smirked, this really had been a long time coming, and Jensen rolled his eyes, ‘Enough tranquiliser to take down two elephants.’ At Jensen’s horrified look, he continued, ‘Don’t worry Jensen, he’s undead, I can’t over dose him with anything. Although he might be a little sore and somewhat pissed tomorrow since I coated the darts with dead man’s blood to give them an extra kick.’ Yeah, it was a definite ‘ _if’_ Jared would forgive Jensen for this. _Great._

 

‘Fine, whatever, we need to get him back to his apartment before the sun moves and fries his ass. He’s already going to have to heal from the holy water I got him with, I don’t really want to do him anymore damage.’ Jensen moved over to the vampire on the floor and contemplated how they were going to do this, ‘You got your car Jim?’

 

‘Yeah, it’s outside the gates.’

 

Jensen continued before the other man could protest about having a vampire in his car, ‘Awesome, grab his legs and I’ll grab his arms. Jensen took off his jacket and threw it over Jared’s face and exposed chest and grabbed the man under the arms. Jim obediently took the vampire’s legs, touching them as little as possible from what Jensen could see. Together they managed to get Jared into the back of the car and covered up with a couple of spare blankets so that the sun couldn’t get to him. ‘Right, you take Jay back to his apartment and chain him up for me, I don’t want him loose when he’s this out of control.’ God only knew what the spell did to vampires but from Jared’s earlier behaviour, it wasn’t good. He couldn’t risk the lust caused by the spell tapping into Jared’s inherent blood lust and sending the vampire on a killing spree.

 

Jim just nodded and Jensen continued. ‘I’m gonna go home and do this location spell and then I’m going to hunt this bastard down and make him tell me how to fix it.’

 

‘How are you going to do that?’

 

‘Oh Jim, I have my ways.’ Jensen cracked his knuckles and set off at a run for home. The sooner he got inside and away from people, the better.

 

 


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six.

** Chapter Twenty-Six. **

  
** Jensen. **

Jensen sat on his bed and laid the map of Sunnydale out in front of him. He opened his bedside drawer; this location spell was pretty simple, well simple compared to the one he’d had to use all those weeks ago, so he was sure that he had everything he needed in the hidden compartment in the drawer. Yep, he took out the powdered unicorn’s horn, the crow’s foot and, _ewww_ , the desiccated cat’s tongue, Jesus, if kid’s thought that dissecting a frog in biology was bad, they hadn’t even come close to Jensen’s level of grossness. His hands just never felt clean after he did spells like this. 

Jensen wasn’t a particularly good witch, it wasn’t one of the skills passed on to him as the Slayer, but he was good enough to do the basic spells that Sterling and Jim had taught him. The first spell he’d ever learned was the location spell, actually, it was pretty useful spell for the Slayer to be able to do, it usually helped him find whatever nasty he was looking for that week. 

This one was a little different, though; he was looking for any energy fluctuations that might indicate magic rather than an actual tangible something. He didn’t have anything of the Spell Caster’s, since he didn’t know who the bastard was, so he decided to use the only thing he _did_ have and that he knew was also involved in the spell. Himself. 

Jensen took out his pocket knife and ran it across his palm, wincing at the sting. He squeezed his hand into a fist, that was the best way to get the blood flowing ( _God_ his life was so messed up that he knew all the best ways to _speed up_ blood flowing _out_ of his body) and held it over the small crucible he kept in his drawer. 

Jensen added the other ingredients and stirred them together with his finger until he had a rather disgusting, pinkish paste with the crow’s foot sticking out of it. Just as he was about to start the incantation, there was a crash and Misha fell out of his closet. _Oh for Fuck’s sake._ Jensen shoved the crucible under the bed; he didn’t want to break it whilst he was throwing Misha out on his ass, after all.

‘Misha, buddy, what are you doing here, shouldn’t you be in study hall?’ Jensen asked, hoping to remind his friend of his disturbing love of school, instead of his new and disturbing love of Jensen. Misha had been hit hard by this one; maybe the guy was more susceptible to spell work than other people? Whatever, Jensen needed to keep Misha as far away from him as possible till he sorted all this out.

‘No, I’m right where I’m meant to be Jensen. Right by your side, my love.’ Misha smiled sycophantically at him, and that was probably the cheesiest thing that Jensen had ever heard and it was definitely not something he had wanted to hear from Misha, like ever.

‘Right. Sure. But I’m a little busy right now; could we maybe get together a little later at The Silver or something?’ That would buy Jensen a couple of hours to find the sorcerer, kick their magical ass and get everything back to normal, or as normal as things got in Jensen’s life. Just freaking back to where everyone was not trying to grab his ass. 

Misha’s smile was so wide that Jensen was sure he could see every one of the guy’s teeth. ‘Yeah that sounds fantastic Jensen, we’re going to have such an awesome time. I’m gonna make you feel so good, lover.’ Misha lengthened the word ‘lover’ and moved in really close to him. Jensen backed up on the bed, as far as he could go, before he hit the headboard; the urge to just push Misha off the bed was pretty damn strong. He didn’t, though, Misha had no idea what he was doing and, well, Jensen had seen people under the influence of spells do much worse. It wasn’t the Misha’s fault that he was acting like a jerk with absolutely no concept of personal space.

Misha leaned in to kiss him but stopped just short of Jensen’s lips ( _thank God!)_ , and narrowed his eyes, ‘Wait, why can’t we hang out now?’ _Um, because I need to do a spell to unscramble your brains, moron._ Of course, Jensen couldn’t say that but he didn’t really have any other excuse either. The pause was enough to have Misha leaping up from the bed and raiding his room. ‘Where is he?’

‘Um…who?’ _What the…?_

‘The guy. The guy that’s here so it means you don’t want to spend time with me. It’s that fucking vampire isn’t it; it’s freaking Jared isn’t it? Jesus, Jensen, he doesn’t _really_ love you, you know that right? He’s just using you.’ _Ouch_. Spell or not, that one kind of hurt. ‘He doesn’t love you like I do, like you’re everything in the entire world, he can’t give you what I can give you.’ Misha’s voice was steadily rising as he systematically tore Jensen’s room apart looking for the vampire who was probably still in a tranq-induced coma right then.

‘He’s not willing to do what I am to have you.’ That creepy declaration started alarm bells ringing in Jensen’s head because, yeah, this whole thing made him uncomfortable and it was going to make the next few days with Misha more than a little awkward but it was mostly harmless. Yet there was just something about _that_ and the look in Misha’s eyes that sent a chill down Jensen’s spine. ‘I’ll kill him or anyone else who gets in my way Jensen, you hear me? That’s how much I love you.’ Jensen nearly swallowed his tongue as he watched Misha draw a long, silver blade out of his jacket pocket, Jensen was sure that it had come from Jim’s armoury store at the library. 

Jensen knew love spells were dangerous but he’d never known one to go this far before. Misha was dangerous and God only knew the damage he might do, with that knife, before Jensen managed to stop this thing. Jensen decided there was only one thing to do; he was going to take a leaf out of his Watcher’s book. 

While Misha continued to rant and pace Jensen’s room, Jensen subtly opened his weapons’ bag that was on the floor beside his bed. He grabbed his tranquiliser gun and checked that it was loaded. ‘And another thing. _I’ve_ loved you since the moment I laid…’ THUD! The dart hit Misha in the chest and the guy went down like a tonne of bricks, Jensen wincing as the guy’s knees hit the floor. That was so gonna leave a mark.

Jensen grabbed Misha’s phone from his pocket and called the other boy’s mom, to come and pick him up. He guessed he had about six hours till Misha woke up and his Jensen-focused mind sought out the object of its affection (or obsession) again, that was more than enough time to get everything done.

Jensen grabbed the crucible from where he’d stashed it earlier and placed it back on the edge of the map. Grimacing, he put his hand in the mixture and grabbed a large clump with his fingers, before smearing the pink paste onto the map. He chanted the words he’d been taught and after a few moments the map started to smoke. Shit! He’d forgotten that he wasn’t meant to do this on the bed sheets. He swept the smoking mass onto the floor before it set, yet another, load of bed sheets on fire and he got grounded for ‘smoking’ again by his mum. 

When Jensen looked over the side of the bed, he saw only a small piece of paper left. He picked it up, shaking off the last of the flames and placed it back on the bed. The small piece of paper was the only part of the map that had survived the spell which told him that, within that circle, was where the spell had been cast. 

Jensen looked at the paper and huffed out a laugh. The map showed Sunnydale High. 

Of fucking course.

****

Jensen had decided to leave pursuing the witch until school had let out since he wasn’t sure that he couldn’t handle any more groping that day. 

Misha’s mum had come by a couple of hours before to pick her son up and had, idly, been trailing her hand up and down Jensen’s arm before he’d had to tell her that she was making him kind of uncomfortable. She had quickly snatched her hand back, looking confused and embarrassed, and had all but carried her son out of the room. _Awkward_.

Jensen had phoned Jim, as soon as he’d finished the location spell, and Jim had listed the places in the school that he thought a Spell Caster might use; places where few people went and places of mystical energy, apparently there were quite a few of those dotted round the school, and really, who’s great idea was it to build a high school right on top of a mystical hot spot? But should Jensen really have expected anything less from a high school built in a freaky town like Sunnydale?

Jensen had checked out eight of the ten spots that Jim had given him and had found jack squat so far. He pushed open the door to the old sport’s storage room, thinking that no witch worth their salt would be stupid to use a room like this. Yeah, no one really ever went in there, but the place didn’t look like _anyone_ had been in there in the last century and Jensen just hoped that he was imagining the scratching of rats in the walls. Gross. 

He was, therefore, somewhat surprised to see a boy sitting on the dirty floor with a lit black candle, a small cauldron of questionable contents and a kind of ratty looking voodoo doll in front of him. It all looked pretty…amateur. Not what Jensen had expected at all from such a widespread and powerful spell, the damn thing had managed to turn his vampire boyfriend into a sex crazed maniac and his best friend into a homicidal _and_ sex crazed one. He kind of figured whomever had cast the spell was working some really bad mojo, you know - black cloak, red eyes, claws, something along those lines, not…

‘Jonathon?’ 

The boy jumped and his head snapped up to look at Jensen, eyes wide and shocked, ‘Jensen?’

‘Jon, what the Hell are you doing?’ Jensen had biology with the kid, they’d been paired together a couple of times; Jonathon had always seemed okay, he certainly didn’t think that the guy felt any ill-will towards him. And he certainly didn’t think that Jonathon wanted him dead. Did the guy know he was the Slayer then? Was that what this was all about?

‘I…I…’ The boy looked around frantically, as if searching for a suitable lie to explain the weird arrangement of herbs and symbols around the room. Jensen had had enough; he didn’t really need to know _why_ the kid had done it, if he was a kid at all and not some crazy warlock who wanted Jensen dead, Jensen just needed him to reverse it. 

‘You know what? I don’t even care. I’ve had a really long fucking day and all I want is for whatever you did to me to go away. And then, if you wanna have a go at killing me then we can go at it but, first of all, you’re gonna underdo whatever you did.’ Jensen said, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

‘ _Kill_ _you?!_ Why on earth would I want to kill you? I love you.’ The boy said earnestly and Jensen sighed. Who would have thought that being told, over and over again, that people loved you would have been a bad thing? 

‘God, did you get yourself with your own spell, Jonathon? I mean, _come_ _on_ , how long have you been doing this shit?’ Jensen asked, exasperated, it was a pretty dumbass move to get whammied by your own spell. 

‘No, no, you don’t understand. I cast the spell _because_ I love you.’ Jensen raised an eyebrow, okay that was one that he hadn’t heard, ‘But it went wrong. It was meant to make you love me back but somehow I…I screwed it up and it made everyone fall in love with you instead.’ 

_Christ_! ‘Ya think?! Right. Okay. It’s alright, Jonathon.’ It really wasn’t but Jensen wasn’t getting an evil vibe off the guy, he never had; Jonathon was obviously just a desperate, horny teenage boy who had really bad taste in crushes. ‘Can you just, sort of, turn it off for me?’

‘Um…I don’t know how. I never researched that far, I didn’t see the reason to ‘cause if it’d worked…’ And he waved a hand between them and Jensen grimaced. Yeah, no. That was just a little too rapey for Jensen to even think about without punching the guy in the face and he needed to know what spell the guy had done _before_ he got to that.

‘Fine, whatever. Get your shit, we’re going to see Jim, see if he can sort this mess out.’ As soon as Jonathon had grabbed his bag full of books and ingredients, Jensen snuffed out the candle before locking his hand round the guy’s arm and dragging him up the stairs.

‘You know, Jensen, now that we’ve really met…’

‘No.’

‘You don’t even know what I was gonna…’

‘No.’

‘Jen…’

‘No.’

Jonathon just hung his head and pouted. Actually full on pouted like he wasn’t a 17 year old teenager. Jensen rolled his eyes, the kid was actually acting like _he_ was the one who’d been wronged in this situation and Jensen would seriously dispute that one; he had the bruises on his ass to prove it, not to mention the emotional scars from being hit on by Mr Johnson. Shudder.

Jensen pushed the library doors open, ‘Jim, got a wanna-be Sabrina here for you.’ Jim appeared from the stacks, eyebrows raised, as he took in Jensen and the boy next to him, who was leaning into Jensen’s touch no matter how much Jensen tried to angle his body away. 

‘Jonathon Masters, right?’ The boy nodded, ‘I’m guessing, from the fact that you’re still in one piece and that Jensen has dragged you all the way up here to see me, that you don’t know how to undo the spell you did?’ Disapproval was heavy in his tone, and Jonathon’s head dropped to his chest as he shook it in the negative. Jensen almost felt sorry for the guy but then Jonathon inched closer to Jensen again and Jensen’s sympathy evaporated instantly and he dropped the guy’s arm roughly and stepped away. This was Jim’s area of expertise anyway; Jensen had _no_ idea what the kid had done in that storage room. 

‘Okay, sit down and tell me what you did.’ Jensen went into Jim’s office and grabbed himself a coke before sitting down at the table with them, putting his boots up on the desk despite the number of times Jim had told him not to do that. 

Jensen leaned back in the chair, relaxing finally for the first time since Misha had accosted him that morning, knowing that all this shit was going to be over soon. 

‘Jonathon!’ Jim’s bark had Jensen opening his eyes and looking over at them, only to find Jonathon staring at him, his eyes a little glazed. For Christ’s sake. Jensen brought his feet back down and clicked his fingers in front of Jonathon’s face, ‘Hey, buddy, eyes back on the librarian.’ Jonathon shook his head and, reluctantly, returned his gaze to Jim. 

Jensen got up and wandered round the library, more to try and dispel the itchiness that went through him every time the little perv snuck a look in his direction. 

‘That was quite ingenious.’ Jim’s voice echoed through his head as he paced. 

‘JIM!’

‘Oh…um…yes…um…despite the obvious unwanted outcome.’ Jim stumbled over his words as Jensen glared at him. ‘And, of course, it was very, _very_ wrong to perform a spell like that.’ Jim continued to try and dig himself out of the very large hole he’d just dug for himself. 

‘Stop, Jim! It’s fine, I get that you dig the awesome spell-workiness or whatever, just _please_ tell me you know how to fix this.’ Jensen pleaded, he really couldn’t wait to get back to his hopefully non sex crazed boyfriend. He totally deserved the night off after this. As his mind drifted on that thought…maybe they could leave Jared just a little sex crazed. 

‘Yes I can, I have all the ingredients here in the library so we can be done in about twenty minutes.’ Jim assured him. 

Jensen looked up to the Heavens, sending up silent thanks to a deity he wasn’t sure he believed in. ‘Thank Christ.’ 

****

So half an hour later and Jensen was pushing Jonathon out of the library with a quick, ‘Next time you like someone, just freaking ask them out for coffee okay. ‘Cause this whole love spell thing, it’s really not okay, and it’s kind of creepy.’ Jonathon nodded, dejectedly, and Jensen really hoped he’d gotten through to the kid. 

After watching Jonathon go, Jensen blew out a long breath and turned to his Watcher, ‘Why couldn’t he just have been a warlock trying to kill me? That actually would have been _less_ creepy than whatever the Hell that was.’ Jim chuckled. ‘What? You don’t think that was a little stalker-y, I feel kind of violated!’ Jensen snapped, indignant that his Watcher didn’t seem to be taking this as seriously as Jensen thought he should have been. 

‘Yes, yes, you’re absolutely right, Jensen. What he did was very wrong but that’s what happens when you mix a town like Sunnydale with a bucket load of teenage hormones, I suppose. Oh and throw in the shed-load of Supernatural energy just waiting to be tapped into and this is the result.’ Jim shrugged.

Well when you put it like that…No, it was weird and freaky and strange and a dozen other words for ‘creepy’ that Jensen couldn’t think of right then. 

‘Whatever, I’m going over to my boyfriend’s to make sure that he’s no longer desperate to molest me.’ Jensen was still on the fence as to whether that was a good thing or not. Jim’s chuckle followed him out the door, yeah well, screw him. 

****

Jensen let himself into Jared’s flat and moved into the bedroom. He saw Jared sitting on the hard floor with his hand handcuffed to the fridge door. God, couldn’t Jim, at least, have put the guy in a chair? 

Jensen walked over to where Jared was sitting, ‘Jay?’ He said quietly, keeping his distance until he could determine his boyfriend’s mental state; even though he hadn’t been molested at all on his way there and had experienced none of the long, lingering stares he’d witnessed the rest of the day, Jensen had no idea how the spell affected vampires. 

Jared lifted his head and gave him such an anguished looked that Jensen immediately dropped down to his side, craziness be damned. ‘Jen?’ Jared croaked out. 

‘What is it? Jared?’ Jensen eyes did a quick scan of Jared’s body but he couldn’t see any injury; surely Jim wouldn’t have let Jared get hurt? Jensen had trusted him; Jim knew how much Jared meant to him.

‘I’m so sorry Jensen. I don’t know what happened.’ Jared brought a hand up, as if to touch Jensen’s face, but stopped and dropped it back down to his side, his jaw clenching as he did so. ‘You have to know that I would never hurt you.’

Jensen smiled and shook his head. He picked up Jared’s hand and put it on his cheek, clearly as Jared had wanted to do a moment ago, ‘It’s alright, Jay, it was just a spell, it wasn’t you.’ He dipped down and gave Jared a chaste kiss on the lips to let him know that Jensen wasn’t scared to be near him.

Jensen unlocked the cuffs and Jared surged up and hugged him tight, dropping a kiss onto the top of Jensen’s head, ‘God when I think what I could have…’

‘Stop, Jay. Don’t even think about it, it was just a spell. Jesus, you should have seen the way some of others were acting today.’ He chuckled against Jared’s chest but stopped when Jared didn’t laugh. ‘Jay?’

‘What happened Jensen?’ There was no mistaking the steel in Jared’s tone; his boyfriend wasn’t happy and Jensen’s should have known that he wouldn’t be, the vampire was possessive enough at the best of times. Jensen really needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut.

‘This kid was just messing with magic, that’s all, and it backfired…on me.’ Jensen thought it was best to keep the part about his classmates and teachers groping him all day to himself.

‘How?’ Maybe not then. 

‘Um…it was a love spell that sort of had the opposite effect than what he intended.’ Jared still didn’t let him out of the strong embrace and Jensen sighed, ‘He just had a little crush, tiny really, on me so he did a spell but instead of me running to him, it kind of made me the object of everyone else’s affection. It was weird. Misha’s gonna feel like a real idiot in the morning if he remembers everything he did too.’ He laughed, hoping to lighten the tension that had crept into the room.

Jared finally pulled back and growled, ‘Who was the kid?’

‘No one Jay, he was no one. He had no idea what he was doing.’ Jensen reasoned, he didn’t think Jonathon would ever try anything again, not after the epic fail his first attempt at magic had been. But even if he was inclined to dabble a little more in the dark arts then there was very little Jensen could do about it until he actually started to hurt someone. Jonathon was human and no matter how much what he had done freaked Jensen out, no one had gotten hurt so Jensen couldn’t Slay him for it. And he wouldn’t let Jared harm him either.

‘I want his name Jensen.’

‘Well I’m not going to give it to you because you’ll go and scare the living crap out of the guy and he doesn’t deserve that.’ Even if that would have been really satisfying right then, Jensen knew that he would regret it later if he let Jared loose on the guy. 

He looked up at Jared and grinned, ‘Now, I’ve had everyone pawing at me all day except the one person I wanted to. How about you fix that for me, huh?’ It was an obvious distraction tactic and Jared’s eyes narrowed before he placed his large hands up on either side of Jensen’s face and stroked across Jensen’s cheekbones. It was such a possessive gesture that Jensen couldn’t help closing his eyes and leaning into it. 

The first press of Jared’s lips to his was slow and soft, almost like Jared was afraid that he was going to break Jensen. Jensen walked them back towards the couch and fell back onto it, bringing Jared down with him so that the larger man was draped over him. 

Jensen winked at Jared playfully, before the vampire growled and pushed Jensen down into the couch cushions and proceeded to kiss him breathless. 

Maybe Jensen didn’t need a spell to make his boyfriend a little sex crazed after all. 

 


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven.

** Chapter Twenty-Seven. **

** Jensen. **

Jensen blinked rapidly, he’d totally just zoned out again; he’d been doing that a lot lately. ‘Jensen?’ 

‘Yeah, Jim, I’m sorry,’ Jensen rubbed his eyes tiredly, ‘I think I just need some sleep, you know, I’m feeling a little out of it today.’ He hopped down off the desk, pretty much like he had every other time he’d come to the library since joining the school, but tripped and landed hard on his knee. Crap! 

‘You okay, Jensen?’ Jim asked, sounding a little concerned. 

‘Yeah…yeah, I think so.’ Jensen said shakily, he wasn’t lying when he felt a little off, it felt like his body wasn’t his, his whole equilibrium was skewed. ‘Look, I’m just gonna go home, I think, I really don’t feel great and I’ve gotta go patrolling later.’ For once, Jim didn’t question him, but he did look troubled as Jensen walked out, limping slightly on his newly twisted knee. 

****

Jensen launched the vampire across the graveyard, sending its body into a large marble angel with a satisfying crunch, ‘Ouch, that sounded like it hurt, buddy.’ He snarked as he strolled over to the vampire; it was a new born so he wasn’t all that worried. ‘Let me give you a hand there.’ Jensen bent down, wrapping his hand around the vampire’s neck and pulled the man up.

A wave of nausea hit him, suddenly, and he dropped the vampire, staggering slightly, and the next thing he knew, Jensen was on his back with the vampire pressing him down into the earth. 

Jensen pushed at the vampire’s chest but it didn’t move, it just looked down at Jensen’s hands and smirked. The vampire’s hands closed around his own neck and Jensen gasped and struggled as he clawed at the hands rapidly cutting off his air supply. _Oh God_ , he just couldn’t pry the vampire’s fingers off him! His vision was beginning to blur around the edges from the lack of oxygen.

‘JENSEN!’ A moment later, Jensen was covered in dust, rolling over to the side and coughing into the grass. That had been weird, he should have been able to throw that guy off easily, it was just a newbie, for fuck’s sake. 

‘Jensen, what happened?’ Jared asked, rubbing Jensen’s back as he choked on a mixture of dust and oxygen. 

‘I…I…don’t know. It was nothing, I just couldn’t…’ Jensen didn’t want to finish that sentence, he felt a mixture of worry and embarrassment that he’d needed saving from such a new vampire. His cheeks flamed in response. 

‘It’s alright, Jen, happens to the best of us. Sometimes they just get the drop on us.’ Jared soothed, even though Jensen could hear the worry in the man’s voice.

‘Yeah I guess.’ Jensen answered, knowing that that wasn’t what had happened, Jensen hadn’t messed up. He dusted himself off as he stood up, ‘Look, I’m gonna call it a night, I’ve been feeling off all day.’

‘Okay, do you want me to come over tonight?’ Jensen did, he _really_ did. He was feeling more out of sorts than he could ever remember feeling but he didn’t want to worry his boyfriend and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to hide his fears from Jared. Maybe what he’d said to Jim was true, maybe he did just need some sleep and he’d be back on form tomorrow.

‘Nah, I’m good, I’m just gonna crash as soon as I get there anyway.’ He gave Jared a quick kiss on the cheek and turned to go home, trying to ignore the concerned gaze he could feel on his back.

****

‘Jensen!’ 

Jensen jumped. ‘Sorry Jim,’ he said sheepishly, he’d been way too distracted lately and it had to be pissing his Watcher off, but the man just gave him an anxious look. Jensen shook his head and went back to throwing his knives at the target on the wall. 

He was horrified when not one of the knives hit the centre of the target, _Christ_ , they hadn’t even hit the fucking board. Jensen looked down at his hands like he’d be able to see some reason why they’d just let him down. He couldn’t.

‘Jensen?’

‘I….I’ve gotta go.’ What was _happening_ to him? He could feel himself shaking, was he getting sick? Jensen was brought out of his panic induced reverie by the sound of raised voices in the cafeteria; that was never good, so he made his way towards them.

‘Just fuck off Jake.’ Jensen heard Misha’s vehement retort.

Jensen picked his way through the tables, there was no way he was going to let Jake beat the crap out of Misha. Jensen walked over to the two boys, finding Misha being pinned to the wall by Jake’s forearm, ‘Jake, just let him go and you won’t end up with a broken wrist for your troubles.’ 

Jensen grabbed Jake’s arm to, at least, get him to let Misha down but when he pulled, nothing happened. Jake’s arm didn’t even budge and both Misha and Jake flashed him puzzled and irritated looks, respectively.

‘Get the Hell off my arm, freak.’ Jake dropped Misha heavily and turned to Jensen, shoving him hard and, surprisingly, Jensen flew backwards into one of the wooden tables in the cafeteria. 

Ouch. 

_What_? Now he couldn’t even take out a stupid high school bully like Jake? He heard mutters around the cafeteria, _great_. Jensen was generally thought of as someone you shouldn’t mess with so this little display was going to be news, just what he fucking needed.

Then Jensen heard Misha’s shrill voice, ‘You asshole, Jake,’ Jensen looked up and saw Misha hitting Jake repeatedly, with his heavy book-bag, with far more violence than Misha could usually manage to muster.

‘Jesus, get the Hell off, loser, we’re _so_ out of here.’ Jake nodded to his goons and walked out, leaving Jensen on his back on the cafeteria table, pain radiating through his whole body. Misha was eyeing him warily. 

‘Jen?’

Jensen got up quickly, ignoring the pain the movement caused, and ran out of the cafeteria, tears in his eyes. 

****

Jensen ran out of the cafeteria and straight out of the school, he just couldn’t be there anymore; Misha and Danneel would want to know what was wrong and he didn’t fucking _know_ and he certainly didn’t want to talk about it. Since it was the middle of the day, his mom and sister weren’t home so Jensen went straight up to his room, slinging his bag into the corner, before falling face first on his bed. 

Jensen had let everything replay in his head on his walk home, trying to work out what the heck was going on and what it meant.

He let his mind wander to the possibility that he would be like this forever. A new and unexpected thought popped into his mind.

_Could_ he leave all this behind now? Knowing all the evil that was out there, killing people, could he live with himself if he did nothing to help? Could he go back to his normal life and leave all that responsibility to someone else? Now that he seemed to have the choice to do exactly that, he wasn’t sure he would be able to.

‘Rough day?’ Jensen jumped at the unexpected voice and groaned as he turned over on the bed. He scooted up, his hurt body attesting to the fact that he’d had his ass kicked twice in the last 24 hours. Like he needed another reminder.

‘You could say that.’ Jensen snorted, that was probably the understatement of the century.

Jared sat down next to him on the bed, and ran a hand down the side of Jensen’s face. Jensen didn’t even realise that he’d been crying until then. ‘What is it, baby?’

Jensen really didn’t have the strength to hide everything right then, he felt raw and cut open and he just wanted Jared to make it better. ‘I…you know last night when that vampire got the jump on me, it’s because…I…I think I’ve lost my gift.’ He paused, biting his lip, as another fear clawed its way up his throat now that Jared was with him. ‘I’m normal now. Just Jensen…I’m useless.’ 

Jared moved closed to him, a fond smile on his face. ‘You’re not useless Jensen. You never could be.’ Jared pushed the hair off his forehead and Jensen leaned into the gentle touch. ‘What do you mean you’re normal?’

‘Something’s happening to me. I…I think I’m just human now, just me, without any of my strength, my skills…anything. Without any of the things that made me special.’ He whispered, he’d never really thought about it like that before. But, back in the beginning, when he was still resenting his destiny he hadn’t had Jared and now he did. And the only reason he had Jared was because he was the Slayer, what if Jared didn’t want him anymore now that he was normal? God only knew that Jared had been way out of his league before…now…now he was out of Jensen’s universe.

‘Jensen.’ Jared turned Jensen’s head back to him, even as Jensen felt another tear slip down his cheek, ‘You’re _still_ special. Even without being the Slayer, you’re amazing; it isn’t you being the Slayer which makes you amazing, it’s you, it’s just _you,_ Jensen.’ He leaned in and kissed Jensen slowly and Jensen just wished that the words were true.

‘But you’re the boyfriend of the _Slayer_ , not Jensen, what can I…’ _give you now? What can I do to make you stay?_ Jensen didn’t finish the sentence, even to his own ears that sounded just too pathetic.

‘Baby, I would have come after you, Slayer or not, believe me.’ Jared smiled at him, the barest hint of a smirk. The smirk disappeared, though, as he pulled Jensen against his chest and kissed the top of his head, ‘Jensen, I didn’t fall in love with the fact that you can kick demon ass like no one I’ve ever seen, even though it’s hot as Hell, and I didn’t fall in love with you because you happen to be the Slayer. I fell in love with you because of who you are, Jensen, and that’s all you.’

‘But I don’t think I know how to be just Jensen anymore.’ Jensen sniffed, burying his head in his lover’s chest.

****

Jensen had sent Jared off to patrol for him while he tried to figure out what to do. All his thoughts kept circling round his head and he couldn’t take it anymore.

Had he really lost whatever made him the Slayer? Why? He didn’t _feel_ sick, maybe his strength was just gone? Did this let him off? Was this what he’d been asking for, _praying_ for since he’d learned about his destiny? Was there a new Slayer?

Even if that was so, the Supernatural would still come after him, normal or not, and they’d come after his family and his friends and he wouldn’t be able to protect them anymore. That was it, he couldn’t put it off any longer. He needed to fix this, he needed to talk to Jim. Now. 

****

‘JIM!’ Jensen entered the library, looking frantically around for his Watcher. ‘JIM! Get your baseball hat-wearing ass out here, I need your help!’

Jim emerged from his office, ‘Jensen, everything alright? Shouldn’t you be patrolling right now?’ There was little of the reprimand that Jensen would have expected in his voice but…was there guilt there too?

‘No…well, yeah I should be but I think…I think there’s something wrong with me. There has been for a few days. I mean, I think my Slayer-ness is on the blink, can that even happen? First of all, I totally got my ass kicked by a newbie vampire the other night, then I couldn’t throw a knife better than, well, better than you earlier and then I got saved by Misha, by _Misha_ , from Jake. I mean it’s like I’m…’

‘Normal.’ Jim supplied. 

‘Well…yeah.’ Jensen shifted nervously. ‘Can that happen, Jim?’ He took a deep breath, ‘Is this over, is there a new Slayer?’

‘No, there’s no new Slayer, Jensen.’ Jim said, looking away from him.

‘How do you…how can you be sure? Would the Watcher’s Council tell you if there was a new one? I mean, will the demons stop coming after me now, you know, since I’m normal, and not a threat anymore?’ He took a deep breath and asked the question that was most the important to him, ‘Will my family and friends be safe if I’m normal now?’

‘Jensen, you’re _not_ normal.’

‘But…I…’

‘No, Jensen, you are _not_ normal.’ Jensen watched as Jim disappeared into his office and came out holding a small box. 

‘What’s that?’ Jensen looked at the box suspiciously, wondering why it was causing the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

‘It’s a test, Jensen.’ Jim answered evasively, still not looking Jensen in the eye.

‘A test?’ Jensen felt the bottom of his stomach fall out.

‘I have orders that just before your eighteenth birthday you have to complete a test. But, first, I had to make sure that you were without the abilities granted to you as the Slayer. You had to undergo this test without your skills, as if you were a normal person, it is meant to test your mental po…’

The punch surprised Jensen, as much as it seemed to surprise Jim, and it hurt way more than it usually did. Jensen thought he might actually have broken a knuckle, but the pain in his hand was nothing compared to the pain in his chest that was making it difficult for him to breathe, ‘You… _you_ did this to me?’

‘Yes,’ Jim rubbed his jaw, his eyes contrite, ‘I’m so sorry, Jensen.’

‘Don’t.’ Jensen held up his shaking hand, ‘I trusted you. I _trusted_ you more than I’ve trusted anyone in a long time. How could you do this? God, my family, my friends, they could’ve gotten hurt whilst you did your…your fucking experiment on me!’ Jensen could feel the tears at the back of eyes, threatening to choke him, ‘I was a sitting duck and you _knew_ and you sent me out patrolling anyway, I could have died!’

‘I know, I’m sorry, but I had to. It was my job.’ Jim pleaded with him.

‘You didn’t _have_ to do anything! You told me that your job was to protect me,’ Jensen swallowed. _I thought you cared._

‘It is. This test, it would have made you better. It would have proven your intelligence, your ability to plan and strategize and win your fights without relying on your superior skills.’ Jim reasoned, clearly rattling off the reasons he’d used to rationalise fucking poisoning Jensen.

‘I shouldn’t _have_ had to prove myself to you. Putting me up against vampires without my skills won’t make me better, won’t help train me, all it’ll do is show whether or not I would die without them.’ He took a deep breath and added quietly, ‘Jesus, Jim, I could have _died_ , you asshole.’

‘The Council…’

‘The Council is all the way back in England; don’t blame them for something _you_ chose to do.’ Jensen put as much disdain as possible into his voice, he wouldn’t let Jim palm off responsibility for what he’d done onto someone else. Sterling had drummed into him the need to take responsibility for his actions, it was how Jensen lived his life.

‘They’re not.’

‘They’re not what?’ Jensen spat.

‘They’re not in England, Jensen, they’re here in Sunnydale. They’ve come to observe the test; they’ve brought over a powerful vampire from England for you to fight. But it’s all over, I’ve told you, the test is invalidated now that you know.’

‘What-the-fuck-ever Jim. Just tell those bastards to get their asses back on that plane before I get my strength back or they’re going to regret it, you hear me.’ Jensen walked towards the door, then stopped for a moment, ‘And you might want to stay out of my way too.’

‘Jensen.’ But Jensen just kept walking, ignoring the tears that were running down his cheeks.


	28. Chapter Twenty-Eight.

** Chapter Twenty-Eight. **

** Jensen. **

Jensen couldn’t believe it, on top of everything else, it was _Jim_ who’d done this to him. He felt so betrayed; he’d been stupid to think that he could trust someone whose agenda was training him into nothing more than a deadly weapon. He walked home, slowly, the shock of finding out Jim’s deception weighing heavily on him. 

Jensen had sent Jared off earlier to patrol for him, he couldn’t risk any more fuck ups; he was going to go underground until whatever Jim had done to him wore off. He was sure that it would, now that he knew what it was; it would be really damn stupid for the Council to permanently incapacitate their Slayer until they’d gotten full _use_ of him (the assholes) and before the next person was called.

Jensen made it back to his house and was just about to go in when he noticed something pinned to the front door. He reached out and pulled it off, taking a closer look. It was a photo of his sister and his mom, tied up with blindfolds covering their eyes. Panicking, he flipped the photograph over and found a message scrawled on the other side. 

‘145 ADAM’S STREET. COME ALONE. ’

Jensen ran into the house and up to his room, throwing open his weapons’ chest and leaving the photo on the doorstep.

****

  
Jensen reached the address; it was some abandoned house on the outskirts of Sunnydale, perfect for his _test_ , Jensen thought bitterly. He’d taken his mom’s car so that he could bring his bag of weapons with him. He wouldn’t normally bring so many weapons but now they were the only thing that stood between him and an ugly, bloody and very bitey death.

Jensen took a deep breath and walked up to the house, bag in hand. He didn’t think he’d ever been so nervous, not even when he’d gone up against Tellon, at least then he’d known that his mom and sister were safe.

Jensen opened the door slowly, wincing at the creak that echoed through the seemingly empty house.

‘Slayer.’ Jensen heard a hiss, ‘I knew you’d come.’

‘Didn’t have much choice now did I? Where’s my family?’ Jensen demanded, gripping the bag of weapons tight hoping that the weight would be reassuring. It wasn’t, not in the face of this snarling evil that he had no idea how he was going to fight. 

‘They’re safe, for now. I have no interest in them, I came here for you.’ It smiled evilly at him. ‘But they _will_ make a nice dessert after I’m done with you, though.’ A chill ran down Jensen’s spine, this was one fight he really couldn’t afford to lose. 

Swallowing down his fear, Jensen replied, ‘Well you know what they say about your eyes being too big for your stomach? You gotta get through the main course first and believe me, it’s gonna be a killer.’ Jensen wasn’t sure whether it was the vampire’s confidence that it could beat Jensen, now that he was powerless, or the shake in his voice that had the creature throwing its head back and laughing. 

Then it was right in Jensen’s face, before Jensen could even raise an arm in defence or stop the whimper as its hand closed around his throat. ‘Still so cocky, Slayer. We’ll see how far that gets you.’ And then it was gone, leaving Jensen feeling shaky and slightly sick. How was he ever going to get out of this one?

That was the last thought he had before it all went dark.

****

** Jim. **

****

Jim didn’t think he’d ever been so ashamed of himself; he’d put his duty above the life of his Slayer. But it was more than that, because _Jensen_ was more than just his Slayer; over the past year, Jensen had become more of a son to him. And what had Jim done? He’d taken that good, fragile heart and crushed it.

He felt dirty, but at least Jensen knew now and the test was over, at least the boy would be safe until the drugs wore off. 

Jim heard the door to the library open and saw the very last person that he wanted to see right then. Marcus Thompson – head of the Watcher’s Council. The man was a pompous asshole at the best of times, but right then, Jim didn’t think he’d ever hated that smirking face more.

‘What do you want Marcus?’ He growled as he knocked back another glass of Johnny Walker. 

‘I’m here to talk to you about your Slayer and the test.’ The man answered blandly, ignoring Jim’s hostility completely.

‘The test is off, Jensen’s knows. I told him everything.’ Jim smiled a dark smile; that little slice of rebellion felt good in the face of the disastrous mistake he’d made. 

‘No, the test is still on. We set the vampire loose.’ Jim dropped the crystal glass, sending it crashing to the floor in a shower of amber liquid and glittering shards. The ensuing silence was deafening. 

‘Don’t look so horrified Jim. We tracked it, made sure it didn’t hurt anyone on the way to your Slayer’s house.’ Jim froze, he must have heard that wrong. 

‘On its way to Jensen’s house?’ The man nodded, _oh_ _God_. ‘Why was the vampire on its way to Jensen’s house, Marcus?’

‘Well, since you told your Slayer everything. And yes, we already knew Jim. Did you really think we haven’t been watching this library since we got here, just in case there were any…slip-ups? Your Slayer isn’t exactly the most obedient one we’ve ever had.’ Jim bristled at the words, the man had no right to insult his Slayer. Jensen was the best Slayer Jim could ever have asked for, he had never let Jim done, no, Jim was the one who had let Jensen down. ‘So, we knew that the Slayer wouldn’t come when called unless we gave him a little more…incentive.’ The man explained, and his calm tone had Jim’s blood boiling. 

‘You let the vampire _take_ Jensen’s family? Jesus, Mack’s twelve years old, what were you thinking?’ Jim yelled, his panic rising at the thought that there was no way that Jensen wasn’t going to go after his family which could only mean...Shit!

‘Don’t blame the Council, Jim, this was your mistake. We’re just working with what you left us. If you managed to maintain your professional distance, like you should have done, then none of this would have happened. You only have yourself to blame.’

Jim snorted, it wasn’t a pleasant sound. ‘Right, then you would have just put my Slayer up against a creature without any of the skills he’s been training with for the last few years, leaving him completely vulnerable and off balance. Yeah, that sounds like a _much_ better plan.’

‘It’s tradition, Jim. It’s the way it’s alwa…’

‘I don’t give a flying fuck about tradition, Marcus. And neither should the Council. What they _should_ care about is the safety of the Slayer, the safety of the kid who’s been out here, on the front lines every day, trying to save the world. 

‘I should never have agreed to go along with any of this, I can’t believe that I did.’ Jim snarled, his voice filled with disgust and self-loathing. Maybe, he’d let Jared rip him apart, like the vampire most definitely would want to, once he found out what Jim had done to Jensen. 

‘Well quite. That brings me to the second point of this meeting. You’ve grown too attached to your Slayer, Jim, and this all has shown that you can longer perform the job that the Council has entrusted to you. You’re fired.’ The words reverberated around Jim’s brain. Before that night, they would have ripped through him but now there was nothing. It didn’t matter anymore, there was no way that Jensen was going to forgive him for his betrayal anyway. 

Jim barely even heard the rest of Marcus’ words as the arrogant bastard continued until, ‘If the Slayer survives this, then he will be assi…’

Marcus looked up at him in shock from his place on the floor, as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. ‘There is no ‘if’ Marcus. ‘If’ is not an option. _My_ Slayer ‘will’ survive this, I’ll make sure of it.’ And with that, Jim grabbed his weapon’s bag and made for Jared’s apartment. 

****

** Jensen. **

Jensen took a shaky breath and felt for the wall behind him in the darkness. He could barely see a thing and he knew that the bastard was playing with him, he could feel it watching him from somewhere in the room. 

‘I can see you.’ Was whispered right into his ear and Jensen backed away, tripping over the uneven floor and falling onto his ass. His hands groped, in the dark, for his weapon’s bag but…but it wasn’t where he’d left it. No…‘Sorry, Slayer, I took away your fun bag of toys, so it’s just you and me. Now I want you to throw away all the weapons you have on you.’

‘No.’ Jensen said defiantly, the stake at his ankle and the holy water in his pocket suddenly feeling warm and comforting against his skin. 

‘Yes. Or do I have to go and bring mommy and little sis in here and start with dessert first?’ The vampire growled from across the room. Jensen shook his head, he had no choice. 

‘Fine.’ He gritted out. He pulled out his stake and dropped it to the floor, leaving the holy water in place. Instantly, he felt hands patting him down, over his arms and down his legs until they stopped over the budge in his pocket. Shit! ‘Trying to hide things from me, Slayer, not a good start.’ Jensen cried out as the vampire punched the lump in his pocket, smashing the glass vile and sending shards of glass biting into his skin. The mild hissing on the vampire’s fist was little consolation for the pain lacing through Jensen’s hip. 

‘There we are, an even playing field. Now the fun can really begin.’ Then it was gone again, leaving Jensen gasping and clutching at his hip.

****

Jensen made his way up the dark staircase, grimacing, his footsteps fell too heavily and his breathing sounded too loud in the quiet. Every time the panic rose up in his throat, he pushed it back down with the thought that he just had to find his mom and Mack and get them out of there. Then he could run like Hell and come back when he was back up to his normal fighting strength. 

Jensen opened a door on his right and crept inside. ‘Mom.’ He whispered into the dark, squinting to try and see better. No response. He couldn’t hear anything else in the room, no breathing, no movement, his family wasn’t in there. He let out a surprised yell when he felt a sharp pain across his thigh, and looked down to see a knife slash across the skin – not deep enough to do any real damage but enough to hurt and make walking difficult. 

‘Gonna take you apart piece by piece, Slayer, and then when there’s almost nothing left, I’m gonna make you watch while I _eat_ your family.’ It hissed at him out of the darkness. Jensen swung out blindly with his fist but his hand was caught in a tight grasp and pushed back against the wall, pinning him against it. He felt the vampire’s rotten breath against his face and turned away. A sharp slap brought his face front and centre again. ‘Look at me, Slayer, there’s no hiding from me here.’ Another sharp pain across his stomach that time and Jensen didn’t need to look down to know that he was bleeding, he could feel the blood running down his stomach muscles.

Jensen tried to breathe through the pain. He tried to butt his head into the vampire’s nose but only managed to nearly knock himself out when he caught the creature’s chin instead. Its laugh followed it into the darkness as it left Jensen alone, yet again. 

It was like some fucked up game of cat and mouse and, for once, Jensen was the mouse.

The next room revealed nothing and nor the next. By the third, Jensen was already starting to feel the strain of his injuries and the mounting worry that maybe his family was already….de…no. No, he would know. He would know if that had happened. 

He opened the next door and kept his back to the wall, moving his head around the room. The sharp slash to his arm was much less surprising than it should have been since the bastard had promised to take him apart and it seemed like the vampire wanted to shred him before he drank him dry. Jensen gripped the wound, feeling the blood seep through his fingers as he quickly stumbled back out of the room and into the one across the hall. He fell heavily through the door and onto the floor, his injured leg doing little to support him. Relief washed through him when he didn’t hear the door re-open.

Once, his heartbeat had slowed a little, nowhere near the normal range but enough so that he didn’t think he was going to have a heart attack, he registered that there was another sound in the room. Another person breathing, oh thank god. That had to be…

‘Mom? Mack?’ Jensen said to the darkness. The muffled groans were enough to tell him what he needed to know. He groped over to the sound blindly. ‘It’s okay, you’re okay.’ He fumbled with the gags, pulling them both into a hug and thanking God that they were all right. 

‘Well isn’t that just…touching.’ Jensen didn’t have time to register the vampire’s renewed presence before he was pulled away from his family and thrown against the wall, sending a large crack up the stained plaster.

Groaning, he crawled his way back up to a standing position, swaying slightly. 

‘Oh dear, Slayer, looks like you just about ready to drop. Is it over already? I had hoped for so much more from you.’ The vampire strode over to him, mock disappointment in its voice. 

In one smooth movement, Jensen reached back behind him, closing his hand around the hilt of the sword taped to his back and pulled it out from underneath his shirt, ignoring the pain as the blade bit into this skin. He sliced the sword through the air and decapitated the monster in front of him. 

‘Yeah, well, you should be careful what you wish for.’ Jensen dropped the sword to the floor with a loud clang, thankful that he’d left the blindfolds on his mom and sister. _That_ one might have been a little difficult to explain. 

He rushed over to his family’s side and gently helped them to their feet, leading them to the door. Once outside the room, and away from the headless corpse, he removed their blindfolds. ‘Are you guys alright?’ He asked, apprehensive of the answer. 

‘Yes, we’re fine Jensen.’ Jensen did a quick once over of his mom and Mack, and, despite being pale, they both looked unharmed. ‘What happened?’

‘He was a serial killer, mom.’ Jensen lied, it was the only explanation that he could think of that his mom might actually buy. ‘He left me a note at the house telling me to come here or he’d kill you, so I did.’

‘Oh Jensen, you shouldn’t have done that. You should have left it to the professionals, honey.’ _I did._ He nodded and smiled, a little too tired to continue the conversation right then. 

A creak in the floorboards behind him had Jensen spinning round, pushing his mom and Mack behind him. His shoulders sagged in relief when he saw Jared and Jim standing there. 

‘Mr Beaver?’ His mom sounded even more confused than before, and Jensen couldn’t blame her, how on earth was he going to explain his _school_ _librarian_ being there? He’d just about explained away the reason for the man being at the hospital so many times by telling her that he helped out in the library and that he had pretty much become Jim’s assistant. This, though, would be seeming to take that student-teacher relationship a little far. 

‘Evening, Mrs Ackles. We’re here to take you to the hospital to get checked out. Jensen called me on his way here and asked me to come pick you guys up.’ Jim said smoothly, although his eyes avoided Jensen’s completely. 

‘Oh, alright. But Jensen needs to come to the hospital too, he’s hurt.’ The concern in his mom’s voice washed over Jensen like a warm balm leaving Jensen feeling really tired and strung out. 

‘It’s fine mom, I’ll go with Jared. I need to speak to the cops first and then I’ll go to the hospital okay?’ His mom frowned, he could see it even in the darkness but she nodded reluctantly. 

‘Alright, but don’t leave it too long.’ He nodded and watched Jim lead his mom and sister out of the house. 

As soon as they were gone, Jared strode across the room and caught Jensen as his knees gave out. They sank to the floor, Jensen in Jared’s lap and Jared’s arms around his shoulders. ‘Are you alright, Jensen?’

Jensen nodded, he knew that he was lucky to be still alive and, even though his skin was on fire from the various wounds he’d sustained, he wouldn’t take that fact for granted. ‘Okay, I need to get you back to mine, clean up these wounds.’ Jared scooped Jensen up in his arms and carried him out of the house to his bike, careful not to brush any of the cuts littering Jensen’s body. 

Jared sped back to his apartment, with Jensen wedged in front of him on the bike. Jared obviously didn’t trust that Jensen would manage to stay conscious for the whole trip, it was probably a good call given how queasy Jensen was feeling. He picked Jensen up again and carried him through the door and over to the bed. Jared dug through the chest by his bed, taking out his antiseptic, a loud of bandages and a needle and thread. He stripped off Jensen’s shirt quickly, revealing the gashes on Jensen’s stomach and arm.

Jensen hissed as the antiseptic met the slash across his gut, ‘Shhh, baby. I know it hurts.’ Jared continued to clean across the wound and placed a bandage over it once he was done. He kissed the skin on Jensen’s stomach, just above the material, before moving onto Jensen’s arm. The cut on his bicep was deeper and needed stitches. Jensen questioningly looked up at his boyfriend as the man growled next to him. ‘I almost ripped Jim’s head off when he’d told me what he’d done.’

‘Jim told you?’ Jensen asked, he hadn’t really given much thought as to how Jared and Jim had ended up at the house yet. 

‘Yeah, he came round here and all but dragged me out the door, babbling about how he’d made a huge mistake and taken away your powers and that you and your family were going to pay for it. He’s just fucking lucky that you were in danger and that we needed to leave right then or he wouldn’t have made it out of this apartment.’ Jared snarled as he gently swiped the antiseptic across Jensen’s arm.

So Jim had come to save him, ignored the test and ignored that fact Jared would want to rip his heart out if he told the vampire what he’d done to Jensen. But Jim had done it anyway. Jensen didn’t know what to think about that. 

Jared finished patching him up and covered him with the bed sheets before slipping in behind him. ‘I’m so glad you’re okay, baby, don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you.’ He kissed the nape of Jensen’s neck and snaked an arm around Jensen’s chest, avoiding the wound on Jensen’s stomach. 

Jensen just pushed himself back against his boyfriend’s body, seeking comfort in those strong arms. He wasn’t okay, physically yes, he’d had worse but mentally, emotionally, he was felt like he’d been torn open and was slowly bleeding out. Jim, the closest thing he had to a father, had lied to him and hurt him in ways that he wasn’t sure he’d recover from. 

His body aching, his mind uneasy, Jensen fell into a fitful sleep. 

****

Jensen took a couple of days off school after that. He spent some time with his mom and sister and his friends, but mostly he spent time with Jared. It was half because he wanted to be with the vampire and half because he needed to stop Jared leaving and hunting down his Watcher. It was a tough task sometimes; his boyfriend was still fuming about what Jim had done. 

When Jensen finally returned to school, the first place he went was the library. He needed to clear this up with Jim, see if they could salvage anything from this mess. 

He stopped when he heard voices in the library; one of them was Jim’s, the other one, Jensen didn’t recognise. 

‘…Marcus, I will do no such thing. I won’t help Jensen’s new Watcher train him to be just another weapon in your arsenal, I won’t tell Jensen to follow your orders and I _certainly_ won’t tell him to do anything but kick your asses back to England.’ Jim said heatedly and Jensen couldn’t help the proud smile that came over his face. That was the Jim he knew. That was the Jim he trusted. 

‘Jim, you have no idea what you’re saying. It’s your duty to do what is best for the Slayer.’

‘Oh I am. And the best thing I can do for _Jensen_ is to get him away from you bastards as soon as possible.’

‘You forget the part you played in this, Jim, you’re just as much to blame for this as we are. And the Slayer won’t forget that.’

There was a pause and Jensen before Jim quietly replied, ‘I know. And I don’t expect him to ever forgive me for what I’ve done. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t still put him first in this and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.’ 

Jensen had heard enough, he knew what he needed to do. He pushed open the double doors and walked over to stand beside his Watcher and face the other man. 

‘Ah, Jensen. Congratulations for passing the test, you truly are as remarkable as Jim said. I’m here to tell you we have a new Watcher…’

‘Firstly, you can save your congratulations for someone who wants them; I didn’t do that _test_ for you, that vampire had my family, _that’s_ the only reason that I was even there. And secondly, you can take whoever you’ve chosen right back with you. I already have a Watcher andtrust me there’s no one better.’ Jensen felt Jim tense up next to him, but kept his eyes on the man from the Council. 

‘Jensen, you don’t get to decide who your Watcher is I’m afraid, that decision is made by the qualified member so the Council, not by you.’ The man explained in an irritatingly patronising voice. It was funny that the man seemed to think himself better than Jensen when without Jensen, there wouldn’t have needed to be a Council at all. 

‘Well, considering the last _decision_ that your ‘ _qualified’_ Council made was to try kill me and my family, I’m not feeling all that keen on trusting any more of their decisions. So you can take your new Watcher and your orders and…’ _shove them up your ass…_ ‘take them back to England with you because they’re not needed here.’

The man before him spluttered, his face turning slightly red in indignation. ‘You can’t…you can’t do this?’

‘Pretty sure I can, dude. So until you get your next Slayer, considered yourselves back-benched. I’ll call you if and when I need to. But I wouldn’t hold your breath on that one. On second thought…do.’ Jensen said, a small smile creeping onto his face as the man looked hopelessly between him and his Watcher. 

‘Jim, tell him.’

‘Sorry, according to out earlier conversation, that’s not my job anymore, I’m just a high school librarian now.’ Jim smirked and it felt good to have them as a united front again. 

The man swallowed, and Jensen could see the tense muscle working in the man’s jaw as he turned on his heel and flounced, yes _flounced_ (bloody English) out of the library. 

Once he was gone, Jensen moved away from Jim slightly and turned to look at the older man, all hint of his previous smile gone. ‘This doesn’t mean we’re okay Jim. You betrayed me and, worse than that, you put my family in danger…

‘I didn’t know…’

‘I know you didn’t but that doesn’t change the fact that you left me unable to protect them. And that’s not something I can just forgive. But I meant what I said just then, you’re still my Watcher and I know you regret what you did. So I think, in time, we can get passed this.’ He paused for a second, grabbing his bag to go to his class. He looked Jim right in the eye. ‘Just don’t do it again.’

****

** Jim. **

Jim sighed as Jensen left the library and all but fell into the chair behind his desk. That had gone much better than he had hoped; he’d expected Jensen to never want to speak to him again but the kid was giving him a second chance and there was no way that Jim was going to waste that.

‘Jensen might be willing to forgive you, Beaver. I, on the other hand, am not.’ Jim started at the deep voice from the corner of his office. Jared stood, veiled in shadow, well out of the light streaming through the window. The menace in the vampire’s voice sent a chill down Jim’s spine; Jared could rip Jim’s heart out before Jim could even move and they both knew it. 

‘I’m not here to hurt you, Beaver. I’m just here to warn you. The only reason that you’re still alive right now is because it would only hurt Jensen more if I hurt you and I’m not willing to do that. Not after everything he’s been through over the last few days. But, let me be clear, you _ever_ try something like this again and not even Jensen will stop me killing you. Understand?’ 

Jim nodded. He couldn’t blame the vampire; he’d screwed up and Jensen had nearly paid the price, heck, he _was_ lucky that Jared hadn’t killed him.

Obviously satisfied that his message had been received, Jim watched the vampire leave through the stacks, leaving his threat hanging heavily in Jim’s office. 

 

 


	29. Chapter Twenty-Nine.

 

** Chapter Twenty-Nine. **

 

** Danneel. **

 

  
Danneel watched Jensen as he looked at himself in the full length mirror in her room, taking in the tight leather pants and the white wife beater that she’d dressed him in. He looked hot. ‘Oh my God! I look like a street walker.’ Jensen groaned.

 

‘Yes Jensen, you’re _meant_ to look like a street walker.’ Danneel answered grinning at him from under her own cat costume.

 

‘But…’ And whatever Jensen had been about to say was interrupted by Misha bursting into the room dressed as a cop. It was like a car wreck; Danneel knew that she that shouldn’t watch but she just couldn’t help herself. 

 

  
Misha’s mouth dropped open as he took in Jensen’s kohl-lined eyes, his pink pouty lips and his obscenely tight outfit. ‘See…I look like an idiot.’ Jensen moaned, completely misreading Misha’s reaction to his costume, and started to pull the wife beater over his head. That really didn’t appear to be helping the aneurysm Misha looked like he was currently having.

 

  
Danneel stilled Jensen’s hands on the hem of his shirt - firstly to ensure that Misha didn’t have a Jensen-induced heart attack and, secondly, because she truly believed that the world really shouldn’t be deprived of smoking hot ‘Hooker-Jensen’. Halloween was a holiday after all, and Danneel really wanted to give everyone a treat and, looking at Jensen, she was damn sure that everyone was going to get one that night. 

 

‘Jen, you look hot, trust me.’ It was kind of cute the way Jensen was so oblivious to the effect he had on Misha and how he hadn’t even noticed the obvious hard-on tenting Cop-Misha’s pants.

 

Chris entered the room and looked Jensen up and down, before adding, ‘Yeah, you do, I don’t even like cock and I’m pretty sure I’d fuck you looking like that.’ Jensen blushed such a deep shade of red, Danneel was afraid that he might just explode.

 

‘Oh…uh…thanks Chris? I think.’ Jensen looked helplessly between Danneel and Chris.

 

‘Right, you’re all set, sweetie, let’s go.’ Danneel couldn’t help slapping Jensen on the ass as she passed him still looking nervously in the mirror. ‘Plus, Jared’s gonna freak out when he sees you dressed like that.’ Jensen bit his lip and Danneel didn’t know how the guy managed to look so adorable and so sexy at the same time. 

 

Danneel grabbed his hand and led Jensen out the door leaving Misha still staring at the place that Jensen had just vacated. A second later, Danneel strode back into the bedroom, grasped Misha’s hand and guided the dazed man downstairs and out the door.

 

****

 

** Jared.  **

 

Jared felt the ripple across his skin the very moment it happened; it felt like magic. _Crap_ , he’d been hoping to see Jensen that night since the Slayer had a rare night off; Halloween being completely dead on the demon front. Beaver said it was something to do with the Supernatural being offended by all the shitty representations and costumes that humans wore for the holiday. It was crazy but Jared could kind of relate, he’d seen some really crappy vampire costumes, over the years, and some of them were downright insulting. 

 

  
Jared pulled on his leather jacket and walked out his front door. There was only one place that this spell was going to go down tonight, The Silver. 

 

****

 

Jared walked into the club, and could feel the tension as soon as he entered. The spell had definitely been cast there, the air was ripe was with magic. Jared scanned the crowd seeing if he could spy anything unusual. Hopefully, the witch was still there somewhere and Jared would be able to find them, threaten them and get them to reverse whatever spell they’d done. Then he could go and find Jensen and make a little magic of their own. _Did he really just think that –Jesus!_

 

Jared frowned when he noticed a crowd of people cheering by the bar so he pushed through, to the front, to see what everybody one was looking at. 

 

_ Holy Shit! _

 

The very last thing, the _very_ last thing that Jared had expected to see was his boyfriend dancing on the bar! On the _fucking_ bar! He would have been less surprised had he seen a dragon, dancing on the bar, and he knew for a fact that they’d been extinct for centuries. 

 

Jared took in Jensen’s tight leather pants, which really left _nothing_ to the imagination, and his smooth, bare chest that shone with a thin sheen of sweat form his…exertions on the bar. Jared stood stunned, watching Jensen gyrate his hips as he danced; all sinuous grace and beauty.

 

  
It was probably the most erotic thing that Jared had ever seen and, considering some of the places Jared had been over the years, _that_ was saying something.

 

  
Jared watched as Jensen wrapped a leg around one of the poles at the end of the bar (a throwback to when the place had _actually_ been a strip-joint before it was turned into the teenage hangout) and lean back slowly into the crowd. As he straightened back up, Jared watched one of the guys in the front reach up and place a hand on Jensen’s ass. Right. On. Jensen’s. Ass. 

 

And, well, that broke Jared out of his trance and just as Jensen started to push his ass back into the touch, Jared reached up and dragged the teen down off the bar, possibly a tad more roughly than was necessary. 

 

What the Hell was Jensen thinking? Was he high? And while, Jared really, really liked Jensen’s outfit, how could he not? He kind of didn’t want anyone else to see Jensen dressed like that. _Jesus_ , the guy had enough guys and girls panting after him without him stripping down in the middle of a crowded club.

 

Jared dragged Jensen into a booth in the corner of the club, trying to ignore all the eyes following his boyfriend and undressing (what little clothes were left on him anyway) with their eyes. He sat down and pulled Jensen down to sit next to him. 

 

Jared was just about to ask Jensen what he thought he was doing, practically humping that pole in the middle of the crowded club in front of a load of horny guys and girls, when Jensen leaned over close to whisper in his ear. Jensen’s voice was low and sultry, holding none of the nerves or self-consciousness that his boyfriend usually possessed. ‘So, big boy, now you’ve got me all to yourself,’ he trailed a hand down Jared’s chest and down his abs, ‘What _are_ you going to do with me?’ 

 

‘What are you talking about? I’m not…’ Jared started, there was something wrong here and Jared was sure that it had something to do with the dark magic he’d felt earlier.

 

Jared choked when he felt Jensen press his hand onto his cock through his jeans, ‘Really? Because I think you are. And since you’re so hot, I’m gonna throw in a blow job for free.’

 

Huh? Free? What was Jensen talking about? Jared pushed Jensen away, trying to get a look in his eyes. Yeah, _that_ was probably a mistake, considering how Jared had barely managed to keep his hands off Jensen when he’d seen him up on the bar, so looking at the guy up close was not wise. Jared had always been a bit of an instant gratification kind of the guy, even when he’d been human; he’d never been all that into waiting for what he wanted, he usually just got up and took it. 

 

But Jared didn’t want to be that guy with Jensen and it was hard at the best of times but, right then, he deserved a freaking medal for having not bent Jensen over already. 

 

Jared looked into Jensen’s kohl darkened eyes, his long mascara’d lashes framing them perfectly, and his shiny pink lips… _Holy Mother of God._

 

  
A small, seductive smile broke out over Jensen’s face at Jared’s staring and Jensen bit down on his full bottom lip, looking like sin personified. ‘Jensen, look, I think it would be a good idea to get you home.’

 

  
‘Sure, we could do that if you want or you could just take me into the bathroom out back and fuck me senseless. I’ll do _anything_ for you _.’_ Jensen finished the sentence with a lick to Jared’s ear as he climbed into Jared’s lap, squirming slightly against Jared’s cock and not so subtly hinting at what he’d let Jared do to him. And as _awesome_ as everything in that sentence sounded, and it really did sound awesome, Jared’s first thought was that there was clearly something wrong with Jensen. So there was no way he was going to touch Jensen at all that night. 

 

Okay, okay, maybe it was the third thought but thoughts one and two would totally go through any guy’s head if they’d had Jensen, writhing, on their lap too. 

 

  
With a herculean amount of self-control that Jared hadn’t even known he possessed, he lifted Jensen off his lap, groaning at the loss of delicious friction but mostly at the loss of the delicious Jensen. Jensen gave him a look of confusion before moving to stand, ‘Hey, buddy, if you don’t want it then I’ll go find someone who does.’ 

 

  
Jensen turned to walk away but Jared grabbed his wrist to stop him, there was no way in hell that Jensen was going back out to the bar, not looking like that.

 

  
‘Jensen who am I?’ Jared asked the shorter man, who had stopped trying to pull his arm away at the question, and moved closer to Jared again, with a coy look on his face.

 

  
‘You can be whoever you want to be, big boy.’ God, this was not getting him anywhere, Jensen ‘I’ll-let-you-do-anything’ wasn’t particularly helpful. 

 

  
‘No Jensen, this isn’t a game, I’m not playing with you.’

 

  
‘But you could if you wanted to. You really, really could and I’m _so_ good at it.’ Jensen walked his fingers up Jared’s chest. Jared groaned and took Jensen’s wandering hands in his and held them tight, he really needed some help.

 

  
Then Jared glimpsed a face that he knew; he was pretty damn sure that he’d never been so happy to see anyone in his life. ‘Chris! Chris! Get your ass over here.’ The other man walked over and Jared saw three long scratches down his cheek, they looked fresh.

 

  
‘Oh. We doing a two for one deal here? I can totally do that.’ Jensen whispered, excitedly, in his ear. Jared rolled his eyes, at least that one wasn’t a fantasy he’d ever had involving Jensen; there was no way he was sharing his boyfriend with anyone. 

 

‘Jared, thank _God_ , what the fuck is going on? And why is Jensen acting like the poster boy for debauchery right now?’ Chris asked at him and Jared eyed the scratches.

 

‘I really don’t know but I’m gonna find out and then I’m going to kill whoever’s responsible; Jensen’s going to feel awful about this when this shit wears off. What happened to your face?’

 

  
‘Danni.’ Jared raised an eyebrow in question, he knew the girl had a temper; he’d been on the receiving end of more than one of her ear bashings, but she and Chris hardly ever seemed fight. ‘She fucking scratched me, man, and then, you know, hissed at me and ran away…on all fours. It was freaky.’

 

  
A thought flickered through Jared’s mind as he took in Chris’ story and his clothes. ‘You didn’t dress up tonight?’

 

  
‘No, never do. Not really my thing.’ Chris answered, looking puzzled. 

 

‘So, I’m guessing that Danni dressed up then?’

 

  
‘Yeah, as a cat.’ Of course, that would explain the scratches and the hissing.

 

‘And I’m guessing Jensen, here, dressed like a hooker, right?’ Chris nodded and Jared could almost see the light bulb light up above the man’s head. 

 

‘Jesus, please don’t tell me that everyone who dressed up for Halloween’s become what they dressed up as.’ Jared just shrugged, ‘ _Why_ do people even live here?’ Chris asked, exasperated. Jared had often wondered the same thing actually; he’d come to Sunnydale because the Slayer was there but he really couldn’t imagine what brought other people there, not with Sunnydale’s ridiculously high mortality rate.

 

‘I think that’s _exactly_ what’s going on here.’ Jared replied; it was the only logical explanation for both Jensen and Danneel’s questionable behaviour and Chris’ lack of such. Plus, as Jared looked around the club, he saw some other costumed people acting pretty strangely as well.

 

Jared took Jensen’s arm and inclined his head towards the exit. Chris nodded and followed him out into the street. As soon as they got out the door and into the alleyway by the side of The Silver, Jensen dropped to his knees and his hands flew to Jared’s zipper.

 

‘Whoa! Jensen stop!’ Jared willed his cock to behave, even as his mind supplied a really _incredible_ image of those pink lips stretched wide around his cock and Jensen’s big, doe eyes looking up at his through those lashes. He caught Chris smirking (and _not_ helping, Jared noticed) as he tried to drag a very reluctant Jensen away from the front of his jeans. 

 

The smirking continued until they both heard a gunshot and looked up to saw a very pissed off looking Misha pointing a gun into the air.

 

  
‘Everyone hands in the air.’ 

 

  
Oh fucking Hell! Misha was a freaking cop and that gun seemed to be pretty damn real. 

 

  
‘You - the guy on your knees - up off the ground…nice and slow.’ Jensen rolled his eyes but put his hands behind his head and rose off the ground, turning slowly to face Misha who looked every bit the cop, with a pair of fucking aviators and everything. 

 

  
‘Hey, I’m real sorry, Officer, is there _anything_ I can do make this up to you?’ Jensen walked seductively over to Misha, swinging his hips obscenely. Jared’s eyes narrowed as he watched the movement, barely holding back the possessive growl that wanted to burst forth at the sight.

 

  
Misha, though, just marched forward and spun Jensen around, pinning him against the car. ‘There’s nothing you can do for me, buddy, except stay still while I cuff you and take you downtown.’ Jensen groaned as Misha clasped the handcuffs around his wrists and manhandled him into the back of his…What the…? Police car? Jared didn’t even want to think how the kid had gotten that; he and Chris would have to get that back before the police found out that Misha had taken it. It wasn’t Misha’s fault, after all, he just happened to think he was a cop right then and every cop needed a cop car.

 

Jared was a little torn, should he leave Jensen with Misha, handcuffed in the back of that police car? Or should he take Jensen with him? This Misha seemed, for once, to not actually be interested in anything Jensen could give him so Jensen should be safe with him. It would also mean that Jared could focus on hunting down the witch and persuading them, very nicely of course, to reverse whatever the fuck they’d done to the people of Sunnydale without having to worry about Jensen snaking his hand down the front of his pants or trying to suck him off every five minutes. 

 

Jared sighed, hating the fact that the police car was really looking like the best place for this Jensen since, in that car, Jensen wouldn’t be able to get his hands on anyone or anything until Jared came back for him. ‘Right, let’s go. I’m thinking it’s a witch and since the spell went down in The Silver, I’m sure the sorcerer’s still in there, come on.’ He said shortly to Chris.

 

‘You’re just gonna leave him here, with _Misha_ , when, I gotta say, good judgement is not Jensen’s friend right now?’ They looked over at Jensen in the back of the police cruiser, where he was making a very crude and obvious ‘blowjob’ gesture. Jared understood what Chris was saying, it wasn’t exactly a secret how Misha felt about his boyfriend, even if Jensen didn’t see it. 

 

  
‘I know but that cop isn’t exactly Misha right now either and he doesn’t seem to be all that interested in what Jensen’s offering and honestly, I can’t deal with the distraction right now.’ Jared explained. It was only half true, he really couldn’t concentrate with Jensen climbing all over him but he left off the other half of the truth that was that he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep turning Jensen down.

 

  
‘ _Sure_ that’s what the problem is.’ Chris smirked again and, wow, how annoying was that?

 

  
‘Just come on, let’s go find this bitch and get my boyfriend and your girlfriend back to normal.’ Chris nodded and followed him back into The Silver. As Jared looked back over his shoulder, once more, at his boyfriend handcuffed and sprawled in the back seat of the police car with his head resting against the seats, Jared really wasn’t sure if he should throttle whomever was responsible or send them a gift basket and you know, maybe ask for a copy of the spell for him to use when they weren’t surrounded by a load of horny teenagers.

 

 

 


	30. Chapter Thirty.

** Chapter Thirty. **

** Jared. **

The witch was remarkably easy to find, the little git was sat in a booth with a girl on each arm, each wearing about the same amount of clothing as Jensen so no prizes for guessing what they’d originally dressed up as.

Unsurprisingly, he looked like the kind of guy who really only left his parents’ basement to get more food during a marathon game of World of Warcraft. This was probably the closest he’d ever come to sex with a girl so also no prizes for guessing why he’d done the spell. The little perv.

Jared walked over to the table, pulled the guy away from his ‘girls’, and pinned him to the wall. ‘Right, whatever the fuck you did, you little weasel, change it back.’ He snarled right into the boy’s face, letting his fangs peak out from under his lip.

‘I…I…I don’t know what you’re t-t-t-talking about?’ The guy stuttered out. Jared would have felt sorry for him, the guy’s confidence was clearly for shit, but then he remembered Jensen writhing on the bar, pretty much begging for someone to just whisk him away and do unspeakable things to him and his sympathy fizzled away in a new wave of anger. Hooker-Jensen would have let anyone do anything to him, hadn’t that been what he’d offered Jared earlier and he hadn’t even known who Jared was? God only knew what would have happened if Jared had gotten there and put an end to Jensen’s impromptu striptease.

‘Really? You’re going with that one? Come on, dude, there’s no way in Hell that you could have gotten those girls to even _look_ at you, let alone touch you, without some kind of magical help. Now undo what you did and I won’t break your neck right here and now.’ Jared pushed his arm hard enough against the boy’s neck to cut off his air supply and make his threat less of a threat and more of a promise.

‘Okay, okay, just p-p-put me down and I’ll end it, I s-s-swear.’ Jared dropped the guy instantly and watched him scurry back to his table like the cockroach he was. The guy grabbed his back-pack and pulled out a piece of chalk and a bag full of herbs. The boy knocked all the bottles off the table with a sweeping arm and started to draw symbols on the flat surface. The witch placed the herbs in the centre and pricked his finger, allowing a drop of blood to fall onto the herbs, before setting light to them with a match. 

As soon as the smoke had cleared, Jared saw that half the people in the club were unconscious whilst the others looked at the sleeping people with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment, clearly trying to work out if this was all some kind of huge elaborate Halloween prank. Knowing Sunnydale, everyone would wake up would thinking that it had all been a huge joke; the idiots really couldn’t see what was right in front of their eyes and they certainly didn’t see anything that they didn’t want to. Maybe that was another reason why the death rate in Sunnydale was so high, along with the whole Hellmouth thing obviously; the people who lived there were really fucking stupid.

Jared turned on his heel and walked out of The Silver and back to the police car parked outside, now containing a very unconscious Jensen and Misha inside. Jared looked at the car wondering how on earth he was going to deal with it. Sighing, he pushed that thought aside for the moment, knowing that he had to find Danneel as well before Chris let him do anything else. 

Jared pulled the aviators off Misha’s face to place on his own, yeah, _that_ was how those babies should be worn. He also pulled off the police cap and put that on his head too; he figured they would be enough to fool any cops that he was just driving some kids, who’d partied just a little too hard that night, home.

He folded his tall frame into the driver’s seat and waited for Chris to pull Misha into the back with Jensen and follow him inside. It didn’t take long to find a sleeping Danneel passed out behind a dumpster, looking a little cold but unharmed. Chris picked her up and loaded her into the back with Misha and Jensen. 

****

The morning dawned bright and early at Jensen’s house. Jared had brought the three passed-out teens back there and had had Chris call their respective parents to tell them where they were. Jared had spent most of the night talking to Chris and waiting for the trio to wake up in Jensen’s room. 

Chris was a good guy actually; they hadn’t talked all that much before because, well, the guy just didn’t talk that much in general. But he seemed loyal and cared about Jensen and that was all that really mattered to Jared. They’d argued about their completely different musical tastes until Chris had drifted off to sleep at around three am. 

He woke up again, a few minutes after eight, when there was a loud noise from the corridor outside. ‘Sounds like the guys are awake.’ Chris remarked, his voice rough with sleep.

‘Guess so.’ Jared answered, forcing himself to stay seated in case the reversal spell hadn’t worked and he needed to prepare himself for a very slutty Jensen. 

‘You think they remember what happened?’ Chris asked just before Jensen burst through the door. As soon as he saw Jared, he blushed bright red, mumbled something, and then ran back out of the room, nearly falling over in his haste to get out of there.

Jared just smiled, now _that_ was his Jensen, ‘Yeah, I think they remember Chris.’ He grinned and got up from the bed to go and find his embarrassed boyfriend and try to convince him that he had nothing he needed be embarrassed about; one – the whole thing had been really kind of hot and two - it totally hadn’t been Jensen anyway so he couldn’t really be held accountable for his actions. 

****

** Danneel. **

‘Oh my God, please tell me that was all a dream! _Please!_ ’ Misha begged, as he rolled over on the bed to face Danneel.

‘I would love to Meesh, but then I’d be lying and you know that’s just not good for the soul.’ Danneel could remember everything from last night, and she could only guess what Jensen and Misha had gotten up to. _Especially_ Jensen, whose costume was somewhat more raunchy than either of theirs. She knew she’d also have to apologise to her gorgeous boyfriend for trying to rip his face off. Apparently, she had a real catty side that she’d never known about. 

Misha wasn’t finished with his little pity party though, ‘Jensen offered to ‘ _make_ _it up to me’_ and I refused, I _REFUSED,_ Danni. Oh my God, this is officially _the_ worst day of my life. _EVER_.’ Misha flopped back onto the bed, an arm flung over his eyes. 

‘Hey, look on the bright side, Misha, at least you’ll be able to jerk off to the _memory_ of Jensen asking for you to do all kinds of nasty things to him.’ She couldn’t help the laugh the broke free when Misha threw a pillow at her mumbling something about Fate being a cruel, cruel mistress as he rolled back over in an attempt to bury himself in the sheets.

****

** Jensen. **

Jensen had locked the door to the bathroom as soon as he was inside. _Oh my God!_ Jensen cringed as he got another image of himself begging Jared to take him into the bathroom and fuck him as he writhed on the taller man’s lap. Crap, Jared must think he was so stupid; not only had he _looked_ like a complete fool in Danni’s get-up, he’d then gone on to give a public striptease for pretty much everyone in The Silver. Jensen didn’t even really like dancing in front of people he knew, but he could see it clear as day, as he shimmied and flipped across the bar letting random guys and girls touch him. 

Jensen thought he was going to be sick. Jared was _so_ justified in breaking up with him, heck, Jensen would break up with himself if he could.

‘Jensen, open the door.’ Came Jared’s deep voice, only slightly muffled by the bathroom door separating them.

‘No.’ Jensen said softly, humiliation burning his cheeks red at just the sound of Jared’s voice. He was sure that Jared couldn’t possibly have heard his soft reply through the door. 

‘Come on, Jen, we need to talk.’ Those four little words made the churning in Jensen’s stomach double; after everything he’d gone through to convince Jared to give him a chance and he’d gone and blown it all in one night. 

Jensen sighed, knowing that Jared would probably just kick the door in, if Jensen didn’t open it, or…or he might just leave and Jensen wouldn’t even get to say goodbye before the man left town. 

Jensen forced himself to stand up and walked over to the door, pulling it open and keeping his eyes trained on the floor. He felt Jared’s large hand under his chin, lifting his face so that he would have to look Jared in the eye. The blush had not fully left his cheeks since he’d woken up and he felt it deepen again as Jared looked at him. 

He only realised that he had his eyes screwed up tight when Jared’s voice filtered through to him again, ‘Open your eyes Jensen.’ Jensen shook his head, he couldn’t do it; the whole situation was just too mortifying for words. 

Jensen gasped when he felt Jared kiss the sensitive skin behind his ear and heard the man whisper, ‘I know you’re embarrassed, baby, but believe me, you on that bar last night was probably the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.’ Jensen shivered at the heat in the vampire’s words, ‘And the only reason that I dragged you down from there was because I wanted you all to myself.’ Jensen felt Jared nip at his earlobe and dared to open his eyes, the blush still staining his cheeks. Jared smiled at him, slow and dirty, his eyes telegraphing his intentions to take Jensen up on some of the offers he’d made last night. 

Then memory flashed in front of Jensen’s eyes, _‘Officer, is there anything I can do make this up to you?’_ , and effectively doused his arousal like a cold bucket of water. ‘Oh my God! _Misha!_ Jesus, he’s never gonna speak to me again.’ He groaned.

‘Somehow I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem, Jen.’ Jared said back, half amused, half irritated for reasons Jensen couldn’t understand. Maybe Jared was pissed that Jensen had _literally_ been offering his ass to _everyone_ the night before _._ And everyone just happened to include Misha.

And, of course, that was the moment that Chris knocked on the door, ‘If it makes you feel better, Jensen, you didn’t offer your ass to me even if you did offer it to everyone else in the club. I’m not sure whether I should be glad or insulted.’ Jensen heard the man’s deep chuckle drift down the corridor as he went to find his now non-cat girlfriend. Bastard.


	31. Chapter Thirty-One.

** Chapter Thirty-One. **

** Jensen. **

Jensen opened the door to the crypt slowly, knowing the Crocotta could be anywhere in there.  He really didn’t want to get jumped; those bastards had freaking sharp fangs that hurt like a bitch if you got bitten.  Jensen stopped dead when he heard Jared’s voice from the back of the tomb. 

‘What the hell?’  

‘What is it Jay?  You found something?’  Jensen inched closer to his boyfriend, waiting from his eyes to adjust to the poor light of the tomb.

‘Yeah, I’ll say I’ve found something, just not the something I was expecting.’  Jensen stopped next him and followed the vampire’s line of sight to the floor.  There, decapitated, lay the Crocotta.  Huh, that was...surprising.  

Jensen knelt down next to the body; the slice was clean and efficient, probably better than Jensen could’ve achieved with his own knife, actually.  He would definitely keep that thought to himself though.  Needless to say, the kill looked professional, which was pretty weird.  ‘Hey, maybe it pissed off one of its buddies and they got into a fight.’  Demons weren’t exactly known for their ability to work together and fights kicked off between them all the time.  

Jensen had always appreciated that since he was sure that if all the demonic and evil factions in the world got together to bring on the Apocalypse, there wouldn’t be an awful lot that Jensen, and the handful of other defenders, would be able to do to stop it.  All in all, the fact that demons had really lousy co-operation skills was definitely a good thing.  

‘No, I don’t think so.’  Jared countered as he knelt down next to Jensen.  ‘It’s too clean a kill; demons don’t usually use blades,’  Jensen nodded, demons had teeth and claws for a reason and they loved to use them.  ‘Also, the body’s pretty much untouched other than the neck wound which really doesn’t follow normal demon behaviour either.  This guy wouldn’t have gone down without a fight and if another demon had killed it, it certainly wouldn’t have left the body in such good condition afterwards.  It’s strange.’ 

Jared rolled the body onto its front with just the tip of his finger, avoiding touching it as much as possible.  When he went to turn it back over, Jensen spotted something on the beast’s foot; it looked like some sort of burn. 

‘Wait.’  Jensen leaned in closely and peered at the mark.  ‘What do you think that is?’

‘It looks like a taser burn to me and I’m damn sure that demons don’t use tasers on each other.’  Jensen had to agree, again, given the whole demons loving to bite and claw everything rule.

Jensen gave the body another cursory glance and, seeing nothing else of importance, he moved to lift the body over his shoulder.  ‘So are you digging the grave for this one or am I?’

****

The next three nights left Jared and Jensen more confused than ever.  They found evidence of dead demons and other Supernatural beings all over town.  Whomever was killing them wasn’t bothering to cover up their tracks so they obviously didn’t give a shit if the normal world found out about it.  So that, again, leaned away from the theory that demons were killing their own kind since Supernatural nasties loved the fact that humans had long ago stopped believing in their existence.  It made their job of snatching and killing them _so_ much easier.  

Jim didn’t have a clue what was going on, either, and whilst he agreed it was unlikely that the Supernatural world was killing off its own; the type of demons killed was so varied and with too little pattern to be anything ritualistic.  Jim felt it was definitely something to be concerned about. 

****

‘Hey I say, let him go at it.  I mean it’s a bitch to be digging all the graves and cleaning up after the guy but he’s doing a pretty good job.  And I’m all for that; every little helps.’  Jensen smirked, it was kind of nice to have someone else out there, trying to help, for once.

‘I don’t know, Jensen, I think I’m with Beaver on this one.  We have no idea who this thing is or why they’re doing what they’re doing and I don’t think we should let this go just yet.’  Jared stated, a concerned look on his face, one that strangely mirrored the one that Jim had worn earlier in the library.  

Surprisingly, given how much they disliked each other, Jared and Jim agreed on things far more often than they disagreed.   And since Jensen disagreed with almost everything Jim said about hunting (he was a teenager, it was like a rule or something, okay), it meant that he disagreed with Jared a lot too.   

It really didn’t help that both of them thought that Jensen needed protecting 24 hours a day, even from himself apparently.  So more often than not, they shared the same standpoint about things Jensen should be _allowed_ to do or places he should be _allowed_ to go.  It was more than a little irritating.

‘Look, all I’m saying is, he’s hunting down bad things, I’m hunting down bad things, so either way the bad things are getting hunted.  So if he and I are doing the same job we’ll logically take down double the…’  THUD.  

Ouch.  Jensen looked down at the arrowhead protruding from his shoulder.  Wow, who knew that crossbow bolts could hurt so much, he felt his legs give way but they didn’t hit the ground.  

‘Shit! Jensen!’  Jared lifted Jensen up against his chest, in an instant, even as Jensen felt another bolt fly by them and thud into the tree right next to them.  ‘Shit!’  Jared hissed and took off at a run towards the sewers.  The tall man jumped down and Jensen winced when the landing jolted his shoulder.  

Jensen’s head was fuzzy, with more than just the pain radiating from his shoulder.  He wasn’t pansy enough that one shot could take him down, heck he’d been shot, stabbed _and_ clawed before and had kept fighting.  But for some reason, Jensen just couldn’t get his mind to focus, his vision blurring in and out and darkening at the edges as he struggled to hold onto consciousness. 

‘Almost there, Jen, just hold on.’  He heard Jared’s voice distantly before darkness claimed him.  

****

‘I don’t _know_ what happened, Beaver, that’s why I called you.’ 

Jensen woke up, with a pounding headache, to loud voices in the room next to his.  He took in the black silk sheets he was covered by and realised that he was at Jared’s place.  Jensen tried to sit up but the world tilted violently on its side and he lay back down again, taking deep breaths in the hope of regaining some sort of equilibrium.  

‘Didn’t you see _anything_ , Jared, you’re a damn vampire, for Christ’s sake, how could you _not_ of seen what shot him?’  Jim’s gruff voice answered back.

‘I was a little busy carrying my boyfriend, who’d just been shot with a fucking arrow, to be playing I-spy, Beaver!’  Jared growled and Jensen knew that he had to get out there before Jared tore Jim’s head off or Jim staked Jared.  

Groaning, he sat up on the bed, wincing at the pull in his shoulder and trying to ignore the churning of his gut.  The wound had been bandaged up, probably by Jared, but Jensen knew that it was going to be a bitch over the next couple of weeks whilst it healed. 

Jensen got up off the bed and walked into the other room, taking in the scene before him.  Jared stood towering over his Watcher, glaring down at the shorter man, whilst Jim’s hand had strayed to his coat pocket where Jensen knew he kept a fairly large vial of holy water.   So to save Jared from a nasty burn, he walked over to the two men and pulled Jared away from Jim.

‘Come on, guys, I really don’t need this right now, my head hurts like a son of a bitch and my shoulder’s on fire so can we just sit down and at least _pretend_ that we’re all on the same side here,’  Jensen said wearily; this scene was getting old, fast.  

Jensen was getting increasingly annoyed at Jim for not trusting him when it came to his relationship with Jared and he was getting annoyed at Jared for thinking that he was the only one who cared about Jensen’s well-being when Jim had proved time and again how much he cared about Jensen.  

Neither man said anything but they did move to sit down at opposite ends of Jared’s couch whilst Jensen sighed, rolled his eyes and sat between them.  

‘I’m fine, by the way, don’t let my nearly _dying_ stop this little pissing match you guys have going on.’  Jensen remarked sarcastically.  The silence that resounded through the room made him want to take the words right back.  He had long ago come to terms with his own short life span, and whilst he hadn’t accepted it, he was sort of resigned to it.  He just forgot sometimes how comments like that could hurt the other people in his life.  ‘Look, all I’m saying is, we have more important things to think about right now, okay.’

Jensen looked at the two men and once they’d both nodded in agreement, he felt able to move on to the topic at hand, ‘So either of you have any idea what happened tonight?  ‘Cause I’m pretty much drawing a blank after I got hit in the shoulder.’

‘Well, I brought you back here because you were obviously having trouble focusing.  As soon as I had you back and saw that you’d passed out sometime on the way, I was sure that there had been was something on the dart.  A strong sedative maybe since you didn’t wake up, not even when I pulled the bolt out.  Also there was this.’  Jared placed something small and metal on the table, it kind of looked like a mini light-bulb.

‘What the fuck is that?’  

‘I found it attached to the end of the bolt in your shoulder.  It was blinking so I think it was a tracker.  I crushed it when we were still in the sewers, as soon as I saw it, so there’s no way that he knows I brought you back here.’

‘Tracker?  What the heck uses trackers?’  Jensen asked, looking up at Jared, surprised; that was a new one for him.

‘Not what.  Who.  Demon Hunters.’  Jared answered, his face grim.  ‘I’ve met a few in my time, some of them were alright - all about their duty, you know, saving people, hunting things.  But some of them were obsessive, bloody-thirsty bastards who did it for the sheer pleasure of killing something strong and powerful without any of the nasty consequences of human society.’  

‘Yeah, okay, I get that.  But then why did _I_ get shot?  I’m one of the good guys?  Was he aiming for you?’  Jensen asked and winced when he saw the look of hurt flit across Jared’s face.  ‘Sorry…sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.  You know that I don’t think you’re evil, but this Hunter, well, he might not have gotten your ‘I don’t kill humans anymore’ memo.’  He tried to make light of his slip.  Jensen felt that it had been an okay save when Jared smiled a little and placed a large hand on his thigh and squeezed it reassuringly.  

‘Maybe.  But I don’t think so.  Every shot he fired came much closer to you than it did to me and you were standing by my side when that first bolt hit so it wasn’t like you got in the line of fire, it was more like the guy was aiming specifically for you.  I could be wrong, but if I am, that guy is the worst damn shot I’ve ever come across and from what I know about Hunters, they don’t take their job lightly, so it would be unlikely if he were.’  Jared answered, his face puzzled.

‘So he was aiming for me?  Um…why?’  Jensen asked, curious and a little pissed off.

‘I don’t know.’

‘Well that’s just great.  Not only does every evil thing that ever crawled out of Hell want a piece of me, _now,_ people, on my own damn side, want to take me out as well.  Just fucking great.’  Jensen’s life really sucked sometimes.  He ran a hand over his face and flinched when it pulled at the wound in his shoulder.  ‘Right, whatever.  So any ideas what we’re gonna do about this, ‘cause I’m assuming our stance is still that I’m _not_ allowed to kill the human _even_ if he’s a total arrow shooting asshole.’  He looked at Jim, cocking an eyebrow.

‘No, sorry Jensen, if this shooter’s human then you can’t kill him.’  Jensen huffed and crossed his arms.  It wasn’t that he liked killing humans, of course he didn’t, but, after everything he’d seen, he firmly believed that some people really didn’t deserve the tag of human anymore.  

And it seemed highly unfair that this guy _clearly_ had no problem hunting Jensen, who was _also_ human by the way, when Jensen wasn’t allowed to do the same.  Not only that, but he’d have to try and reign in his strength so as to not hurt the guy whilst trying ever so hard to, you know, avoid getting killed by the bastard.  Yep, life as the Slayer sucked ass.  

‘You just need to incapacitate him and I’ll call the Watcher’s Council in to deal with him.  Don’t worry, no-one in England looks kindly on people who are careless with our secret.’  Jim explained, but kept his eyes locked on the floor as he mentioned the Council.

And that was another thing; the jerk was making them contact the Watcher’s Council; something that Jensen really hated having to do after everything that had gone down with them.  He and Jim had just started to get back into a comfortable rhythm again and this bastard had to go and throw a huge spanner in the works.

At least the guy would get what was coming to him, though, even if it wasn’t what Jensen felt he deserved.  Jensen could only assume that the guy thought he was a demon or something; Jensen couldn’t think of any other reason why the guy would have shot at him if he was, indeed, a Demon Hunter.  

Taking that into account, there was no knowing how many humans the guy had taken out in error; if he’d somehow made a mistake in Jensen’s case then he could have easily made that same mistake dozens of time before.  The hunter clearly didn’t research his marks, like, _at all_.  

‘Right, so I’m going to say something that I don’t get to say all that often…I think I’m going to have to be bait.’  Jensen said, the words feeling strange in his mouth; he didn’t get to play that part very often seeing as he was normally the one lying in wait to take out the bad guy.

‘I think fucking not.’  Jared growled.  

‘I kind of think it’s our own only plan, Jay.  This guy hasn’t left any clue as to who he is or where he’s hiding out.  Nothing.  Hey, I say guy and it could be a girl, for all we know - equal rights and all - I mean, Danni can kick pretty damn hard.’  He grinned.

Jensen knew that his plan was the best way to get the Hunter out into the open; he wasn’t too happy about it himself, the man had already proven that he was a good enough shot to hit Jensen if he wanted to.  Jensen just hoped that Jared would be able to track the Hunter down before Jensen got a bullet between the eyes.  

Either way, Jensen couldn’t think of a better plan and by the frustrated look on Jared’s face and the resigned one on Jim’s, he didn’t think the other two guys had come up with anything else either.  ‘Come on Jim, you know I’m right on this.’

‘Beaver, grow a backbone, for God’s sake, we can find this guy another way.  Shit, a couple of hours ago, Jen was singing the man’s praises, surely we can wait till he messes up.  He’s going to at some point, he’s only human.’  Jared growled at the Watcher who looked moments away from okaying Jensen’s plan.

Ignoring the human dig, Jensen replied, ‘Yeah, I _was_ singing his praises before he added me to his target list and I sure don’t fancy ending up with my head mounted on this crazy fucker’s wall.  We have no idea if he’s going to go back to hunting everything and anything demonic or if he’s going to put all his energy into hunting me down now.  I say we take the fight to him.  Hopefully, he won’t expect it and he’ll make a mistake and we can take him down.  I don’t really think we can afford the time to just sit on this one, Jay.’  

Jensen wasn’t actually sure if that was true but he knew, as a Hunter himself, that the man’s first move would be to watch his prey, find out its weaknesses.  And if this guy watched Jensen then he’d see Jensen’s family and friends and Jensen knew that they’d become targets too, or leverage.  Jeez, if the guy assumed that Jensen was a demon, surely he’d just assume that anyone who associated with him was a demon too, right?  

No, it was better to lure him out into the open and the best way to do that was to serve Jensen up on a platter, so to speak.  

‘Couldn’t we maybe just catch some random demon and chain it up or something, surely the guy would go for that?’  Jared suggested, although the look on his face showed what he really thought of his plan.  

‘That might look a tad suspicious, Jared, when he finds the thing already trussed up and ready for him, don’t you think?’  Jensen asked, a smile on his face, knowing that Jared was going to have to go with his plan since he clearly didn’t have a better one of his own. 

‘But…’

‘I think Jensen’s right, Jared.  The only lead we have on this Hunter is that he has made Jensen a target, we should use that to our advantage.’  Jim interrupted, although he trailed off slightly when Jared glared at him when he implied that they were going to ‘use’ Jensen.

‘Okay, so it’s settled we’ll do it tomorrow night.  Right now, my shoulder’s not up to crouching in the middle of the cemetery while I wait to get shot.’  Twin glares were aimed at him from either side and he added somewhat sheepishly, ‘Too soon?’

 


	32. Chapter Thirty-Two.

 

** Chapter Thirty-Two. **

 

** Jensen. **

Fuck, whose bright idea was it to have him crouching amongst the headstones in the graveyard whilst he tried _very_ hard not to get shot by a crazy guy with the gun? Oh right, _his_.

Another shot and another shower of headstone rained down on Jensen’s head, scratching the skin of his face. That was going to be a difficult one to explain away at school, if, of course, he made it through the night to get to the awkward questions tomorrow. The old, ‘my cat scratched me’, line really wasn’t going to fly a fourth time. 

Jensen rolled across the muddy grass (that was another pair of jeans which was going in the bin when he got home), barely avoiding a bullet hitting his leg, and rested his back against the wall of a mausoleum. He was breathing heavily; they’d been at this for over two hours, and Jensen was really starting to get tired of darting all over the graveyard. What the hell was Jared waiting for? Jensen grabbed his cell and quickly pressed the ‘1’.

‘What?’ Came Jared’s curt reply, he sounded about as out of breath as Jensen and it would have been all kinds of hot if Jensen hadn’t been covered, head to toe, in mud. 

‘Nice, Jay. I was just wondering if you were planning on taking out the nice man with the gun anytime soon because I really wanted to get home bullet hole-less this evening.’ He breathed into the phone.

‘I’m _trying,_ Jensen. But every time I find his vantage point he’s just gone. He’s moving around too quickly for me to get a bead on him.’ The vampire sounded frustrated and pissed off, like he couldn’t believe the Hunter was managing to give him the slip. Jensen was a little surprised himself.

‘Fine, just…just keep at it okay and watch your back, this guy’s clearly better than both of us thought he was.’

‘Will do. Keep moving Jensen and don’t get pinned down.’

Oh, Jensen didn’t plan on it. He needed to move; he was simply too visible in his black V-neck and black jeans against the white marble wall of the crypt. He put his cell phone away and skirted round the edge of the crypt; he could make for the line of bushes at the edge of the cemetery, they’d provide enough cover for him to catch his breath for a bit. He just hoped that the guy wouldn’t see his hasty escape; Jensen was pretty damn fast after all.

Jensen didn’t know how it happened but one minute he was crab-walking to the tree line and the next he was twenty feet underground in some sort of huge hole. Jensen cried out as he hit the floor, landing flat on his back, his legs bent awkwardly to one side.

He made to stand up but, as soon as he planted his left leg on the soil, he felt something sharp and tight clamp down on his calf. He couldn’t hold back the yell, as he felt sharp teeth bite into his flesh, and he sank back down to the floor, panting. 

Jensen’s head swam and he felt the bile rise to the back of his throat but he managed to swallow it back down…just about. Jensen had fallen down some fairly large distances in his life, those mausoleums didn’t climb themselves, and he _was_ the Slayer but a twenty feet drop was no cake walk and his body ached with the bruises he could already feel forming. 

Jensen’s leg felt like it was being chewed off every time he moved it. He traced his shaking hand gingerly over his trapped leg; it felt like metal, cold and unforgiving, and he squinted in the dark to get a better look at what he was dealing with - _Christ_ , it was a fucking bear trap. 

Fighting down the nausea again, he flexed the knee of his trapped leg slightly and, though the gash throbbed excruciatingly, he didn’t think the teeth in the trap had cracked any bones. Jensen sat back, breathing deeply, as he fought the urge to pass out. He grabbed his phone again from his pocket but when he flicked it open to call Jared, he noticed that he had no signal now that he was underground.

A bright light above him caught Jensen’s attention. ‘Well look what I’ve gone and caught.’ The man smirked down at him. 

‘Hey, mister, I think…I think you’ve made some sort of mistake,’ Jensen swallowed hard as his calf gave a particularly painful throb and he really didn’t have to try too hard to inject a little fear and panic into his voice.

‘Oh, I don’t think so, boy. You’re the Slayer. I’ve caught exactly what I was looking to catch.’ Jensen stared up at him in disbelief; this guy _knew_ who he was, he _knew_ that Jensen was one of the good guys and he was still trying to kill him. Fucking rules about fucking not killing humans. The guy threw down a rope and started climbing down the side of the hole.

‘You see, kid, you might not be a demon, but you’re every bit as evil. Evil follows you wherever you go. You bring darkness with you, you’re not safe to be around normal people; anyone who comes near you is in danger so you just ain’t safe to be left alive. You’re as bad as the things you hunt and the world will be better off with you gone.’ The conviction in the man’s voice was so strong that it shocked Jensen; he really did believe that Jensen was evil.

Jensen gritted his teeth, he knew the guy was crazy but he wasn’t really all that far off in his assessment; Jensen’s own track record was testament to that. Still, Jensen wasn’t about to let the guy gut him like an animal, without putting up a fight, so he tried to distract him while he thought of a plan. ‘You know I’m human right?’

The man snorted, ‘Barely. You hang out with monsters long enough and it rubs off on you. And I can tell, just by looking at you, boy, that you’ve hung around with a whole lot of monsters in your time. You reek of evil, kid, and I’m gonna send you back to Hell where you belong.’ 

This was it, it was now or never. God, this was going to fucking hurt. 

The man raised his gun to aim at Jensen and, at the same time, Jensen reached down to his leg and pried the metal teeth apart. He ripped the device off and swung it, like a mace, at his captor. The man gave a yell of pain as the metal collided with the side of his head before he passed out cold in front of Jensen. 

The pain was overwhelming and, this time, Jensen couldn’t fight the nausea that swept over him and he vomited on the soil floor. He crawled over to the Hunter and checked the man’s pulse, it was steady and even. _Great_ , he wouldn’t have wanted to hurt the guy that had just branded him a monster and tried to kill him. Oh no, couldn’t have that. Jensen took the gun and the rest of the man’s weapons off him, tucking them safely away on himself as he moved over to the rope.

Jensen grabbed hold and started to shimmy up, it hurt, but he knew that there was no other way that he was getting out of the hole. So he sucked it up and forced his tired body to climb. By the time he had reached the top, he felt completely wiped out; his calf was throbbing and his head pulsed in tandem with it. He pulled out his phone again, and praised the Lord when he saw that he finally had a signal. He pressed the ‘1’ for the second time that evening.

‘Jen, I’ve lost him, I can’t find any sign of him.’ Jared’s urgent voice echoed through the receiver before Jensen had a chance to say anything.

‘It’s alright, I got him, he’s out cold. I kind of need you to come get me though.’ Jensen glanced around, he hadn’t quite made it to the bushes but he was near enough to the entrance of the cemetery for that to serve as a good marker. Jared would see him and probably smell him, when he got close. ‘I’m by the gates.’

‘Jensen, are you alright?’ Jared asked, his concern obvious, even over the crappy phone connection. 

‘Yeah, I’m good,’ he lied. He knew that the wound wasn’t fatal and the Hunter wasn’t going to be waking up any time soon. Jensen closed his eyes and lay back on the cool grass and waited for Jared to find him.

About fifteen minutes later, he felt someone shake his shoulder and he groggily opened his eyes. ‘Jen, hey. I’ve called Jim; he’s on his way to pick the guy up now. I’m going to take you to the hospital, that leg’s gonna need antibiotics that I don’t have to stave off infection. That hole was pretty dirty.’ 

Jensen just nodded; he thought that a hospital visit was probably in order for this one too, even if he really, really didn’t want to go. That bear trap had been nasty and wicked sharp; there could be all kinds of tissue damage that neither Jim nor Jared would be able to patch up. Jensen, as the Slayer, couldn’t afford any long term effects from the injury. At least, this one could definitely be palmed off as a dog attack so they wouldn’t have to worry about any questions from the Sheriff’s office.

Jensen felt himself being lifted and put in front of Jared on his large bike. He dozed, uneasily, on the way to the hospital and the next thing he knew Jensen was sitting up in bed, with Jim and his mom by his side. He wondered what story Jared had gone with and was a little wary, with his mom sitting right there, that their stories might not match. Could he put any discrepancies down to head trauma? Concussion? 

It didn’t really matter because Jim spoke first, saving Jensen the trouble of trying to match his cover story with Jared’s.

‘Hey, that Rottweiler was a holy terror, eh Jensen?’ Jim asked, pointedly.

‘Yeah, little bastard.’ Jensen croaked out.

‘Jensen!’ His mother scolded. Oh right, Jim was still his teacher in the eyes of his mom.

‘Sorry.’ She smiled and patted him lightly on his uninjured leg as she handed him a glass of water.

‘How bad is it?’ He looked at Jim. Jensen was pretty sure that his leg was alright; he’d had worse wounds before and hadn’t lost of limbs yet. 

‘Well, the bite was pretty deep and the doctors had to clean it out from where you fell during the attack. But you didn’t crack any bones so you should be out of here in a couple of days. You might need to be on crutches for a little while, depending on how fast you heal.’ Jim smirked behind his mother’s shoulder; if that was the advice for a normal person then Jensen probably wouldn’t need the crutches at all, except for at home to keep up the pretence of being normal around his mom. 

Jensen got a brief flash of himself patrolling on crutches and the look on the face of any vampires he might meet. He snorted into his drink and his mom gave him a questioning look but he just waved her off. ‘Sorry, just thinking of Misha’s face when I tell him that he’s gonna have to carry my books for the next week.’ He lied, but Hell _that_ would be a pretty funny image actually.

‘Right, if you’re feeling better Jensen, I need to get Mack to school. Then, I’ve got to go into work but I’ll come and see you around five and I’ll bring Mack along too. She wanted to come this morning but I wasn’t sure how you were going to be feeling after the surgery.’ His mom explained as she gathered her things; she gave him a kiss on the forehead and stroked his cheek tenderly, ‘What am I going to do with you Jensen Ackles? I swear you’re the most accident prone I’ve ever met.’ 

Well _that_ just about killed Jensen’s relatively relaxed mood. It was meant as a joke but it only served to remind Jensen of how much he’d lied to his mom over the last couple of years. It prodded at how many secrets he kept from her and how she would never really know him the way that she had before. 

He often daydreamed about being able to tell her, get it all out in the open so that he wouldn’t have to hide anymore. Jensen wondered if she’d be mad that he’d lied, mad that he was risking his life every day or just disappointed that he’d never get to do all the things she’d planned for him - grandkids, a family of his own, a real career? 

Would she be mad if she knew about all the people he’d let down? Ashamed that he was so different from everybody else, a freak? Would she feel like she’d gotten a raw deal when she’d ended up with Jensen for a son?

Or would she be proud? He was making a difference, right? Even if he didn’t get it right all of the time or he made bad choices, he still saved people; that had to count for something?

He didn’t let any of that show on his face though, that internal battle was reserved for his head only, and he just smiled at her and gave the well-practised response, ‘Hey, least we’re making the most of our medical insurance.’ The smile on his lips didn’t quite reach his eyes but he knew that his mom wouldn’t notice, she had no reason to.

Once his mom had left, Jensen sagged back onto the bed. ‘So did you get that asshole out of the hole then?’

‘Yeah, we got him, he’s on the way to England as we speak, he won’t be back Jensen.’

‘Good, the fucker got me with a freaking bear trap.’

‘I know, Jared told me. You did a good job taking him out though, very…inventive.’

Jensen huffed out a laugh, ‘Jim, it was the only thing I had, I’d lost my stake rolling around in the mud earlier and I didn’t have anything else to hit him with.’ He had to admit, though, it made a good patrolling story and it was poetic justice at its best - a Hunter getting taken out by his own trap. Classic.

‘Still, I have to say that I’m impressed.’

‘Yeah, yeah…I’m awesome. Can I get some more sleep now? Falling a hundred feet and getting eaten by a bear trap wears a guy out.’ Jensen yawned, he was pretty tired; he wondered, briefly, if it was due to the painkillers, he was inevitably on, or his leg but then realised that he didn’t really give a crap.

‘Of course, Jensen, I’m sure your friends’ll be by later to see how you are. I’ll see you at school on Thursday.’ His Watcher squeezed his hand and then left him alone in the room. Jensen was asleep before the man had even left the hospital. 

****

Jensen was running through the woods, clutching at his side; he could feel the blood seeping through his fingers and his breathing was growing increasingly painful and laboured. It didn’t matter though; he didn’t have much time, he had to get to them before it happened, he just had to run faster, harder and he’d be able to save them. 

A scream tore through the night and Jensen bolted upright in the bed, his own choked off yell leaving his lips before he could bite it back. It echoed in the empty room and Jensen lay back down and closed his eyes against the barrage of emotions left over from the dream - the desperation, the helplessness, the need to just _be_ better. It was always like that when he woke up but usually he was in his own bed, in his own room, and that somehow always made it easier to deal with. He breathed out shakily and opened his eyes again. 

‘Bad dream Jensen?’ Jensen jumped at the deep voice drifting from the back of the room. It was dark outside; he’d clearly slept through his mom’s and his friends’ visits. His leg was throbbing, but he didn’t want to call for more pain meds; they always left him pretty out of it and Jensen didn’t much like the idea of being that helpless in somewhere that he didn’t know.

‘No.’ Jensen lied, he’d never talked about his dreams to anyone, he didn’t even understand why he got them and Sterling had never explained. They were always full of faces that he didn’t know and people he couldn’t save and were so damn terrifying that he woke up in a cold sweat every time.

‘You know you can tell me what you see, Jensen, it might help to talk about it.’ Jensen really doubted that, his job didn’t really tend towards him being honest and open about anything and, over the years, he’d learnt to bury all that horror and pain deep down so that he could do his job. God only knew what would happen if he started to dig through all that shit after all this time, Jensen shuddered at the thought. 

‘No, it’s fine.’ Jensen sat back up, grimacing at the pull in his shoulder. He wondered what Jim had said to explain his shoulder injury since it didn’t seem like anyone was at all suspicious about it. Jim was a much better liar than Jensen so Jensen knew that the story would have been good. He’d have to ask Jim when he got back to school. 

Jared came to sit on his bed and placed a hand on his good knee. It was both intimate and comforting and soothed away Jensen’s pain more effectively than any pain killer ever could have. ‘How you feeling? You in much pain?’

‘No, I’m good.’ He swallowed as Jared’s thumb rubbed slow circles on the side of his knee. They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments whilst Jared continued to caress his knee and Jensen relaxed into the familiarity of the scene; he and Jared had spent many a night with Jensen curled up against the vampire while he traced comforting circles on Jensen’s back in front of a movie.

‘So when do you get to get out of here?’ Jared asked him in a low, soothing voice. 

‘Uh…couple of days, I think. I don’t go back to school till Thursday but I’m pretty sure I’ll be climbing the walls to get out by morning so, yeah, they’ll probably be more than happy to kick me out before then.’

‘Okay. That’s good.’ Jared said, smiling down at Jensen. Jared reached out and brushed the hair off Jensen’s forehead and bent down to kiss him chastely on the lips, just once. ‘I better go; the nurses don’t know I’m here and might think it’s a little odd that some random guy’s hanging out in your room if they come in.’

Jared stood up from the bed and made to walk away when Jensen’s arm shot out and grabbed Jared’s wrist. ‘Wait. Stay…just until I’ve gone to sleep. Please.’

Jensen didn’t like hospitals; they were full of angry spirits of patients who’d died there, full of demons feeding off the weak and vulnerable and full of people coming in who’d never leave again. It was death and pain and sickness all under one roof and Jensen hated them; it was one of the many reasons he usually tried to refuse hospital care even when his wounds clearly called for it.

Jared looked down at him fondly and nodded. Jensen felt himself lifted up slightly on the small bed as Jared climbed in behind him. Hospital beds really weren’t made to accommodate someone of Jared’s size so it was a pretty tight fit with his large body and Jensen on there. Jared didn’t complain though, he just leaned back on the pillows and settled Jensen against his chest. 

As Jensen’s eyelids began to droop as sleep claimed him again, he felt Jared’s long fingers stroking through his hair. Nothing could get to him, not while he was wrapped up in Jared’s arms. Nothing. 

****

When Jensen woke up in the morning, Jared, of course, was gone and Jensen’s calm mood with him. His leg ached and itched under the bandage and it took all his willpower not to tear the thing off and scratch. 

‘Good morning, sleepyhead, I’ve got your breakfast and your meds here.’ Another thing Jensen hated about hospitals - overly cheerful nurses at God awful times in the morning when no-one should have been cheerful.

Jensen sat up and rubbed his eyes. He didn’t want any more pain killers, well not the heavy duty ones that the hospital prescribed anyway. ‘What meds?’ He asked the blonde nurse who was practically bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, next to his bed, holding his breakfast tray.

‘Well the blue ones are your antibiotics, the little red ones are muscle relaxants to help with the pain in your shoulder and those cute little orange ones with the stars on are your pain killers.’ He raised an eyebrow at the nurse, _Jesus_ _Christ_ , was she for real? Where did they find these people? She probably worked with the kids, either that or she’d escaped from the psyche ward and wasn’t a nurse at all. At that moment, both options seemed equally likely.

‘Oookkkaaayyy.’ He took the tray from her and balanced it on his lap. ‘Uh…could you pass me that sweater from the chair, please.’

‘Sure thing, cherub.’ He shuddered at the endearment and, as she turned away, he took the ‘cute little orange pills’ out of the little plastic cup and hid them under the bed-sheets. Jensen threw back the others as she turned to face him again and passed over the sweater. ‘Thanks.’

‘Alright, hon, you eat up now.’ And with that, Little Miss Sunshine was gone, thank God, and Jensen was just about ready to go home. He didn’t like being awake and on his own, it put him on edge and, yeah, did he mention he wanted to go home? He pulled on his sweater and kicked the covers down with his good leg. 

Jensen prodded the bandage and winced when a spark of pain shot up his leg but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been yesterday. With the crutches, left helpfully by the chair, Jensen was pretty sure that he could make it out of there without too much trouble. His mom and Jim, and probably Jared too, would be pissed but, hey, he’d come to the hospital right? _And_ he’d stayed _all_ night, he had to get points for that.

Jensen jumped off the bed onto his good leg and hopped over to where the crutches were. He picked up the pair of scrubs’ bottoms that had been left for him to wear over the next couple of days. Clearly his jeans hadn’t survived the surgery, or the mud, so the scrubs would just have to do. It was a bit of a challenge to get them on, whilst he hopped up and down on his good leg, but, after a good five minutes of struggling, he finally had them on, even if he was a little out of breath by the time he had managed to pull them up over his hips. 

Carefully, he hopped over to the large window, feeling lucky that they’d put him in one of the first floor rooms. A quick look around told him that no-one was anywhere near his room and so he opened the glass pane. He threw the crutches out first and then climbed out after them, grabbing them back off the floor when his good foot hit the ground. He made his way over to the bus stop outside the hospital and waited for the bus that would take him to the stop near Jared’s. 

Half an hour later, Jensen was standing on one leg outside his boyfriend’s apartment in a muddy sweater, a pair too big scrub pants and with bruises and scratches painting pretty much every inch of exposed skin. He probably looked a little weird, and a lot crazy, now that he thought about it. 

Jensen knocked and waited for Jared to open the door. He didn’t. Shit! He hadn’t even considered that Jared might not be home and he was way too tired to make it all the way back to his mom’s or Jim’s. 

‘Jensen, what the hell are you doing here?’ Jared barked from behind him.

Jensen swung round in surprise to see Jared exiting the sewers close to his building and slinking into the shadows to avoid of the sun. ‘Um...’ Jensen really didn’t have an answer, he _shouldn’t_ have been there and he’d known that he’d probably get a lecture from Jared about it. Right, only one course of action was going save him from that – misdirection - and since he was a little too handicapped to be sexy right then…‘Where have you been?’

‘Jensen.’ Jared sounded pissed off and Jensen saw him grind his teeth. Jensen pouted a little, hoping to dampen his boyfriend’s anger. A moment later, the older man sighed, ‘I was just making sure that our _friend_ made it onto his plane to England.’

Jensen narrowed his eyes, Jim could totally have handled that, Hell, he was _trained_ to handle stuff like that. ‘What did you do?’

‘What? Nothing.’ Jared answered but his eyes danced away from Jensen’s.

‘Jared?’ Jensen asked again, at least he was distracting Jared from the fact that Jensen was there in the first place. He smiled internally, even scratched up and smelling like crap, he could still distract the handsome man in front of him. He was good.

‘I just let him know my…displeasure about him hurting you.’ Jensen raised an eyebrow at that, cryptic much? ‘Look, he’s still _alive_ okay, which is in way better shape than I wanted to leave him in; let’s just say he’s gonna have a very, very uncomfortable trip over to England.’ Jensen sighed, it was kind of sweet in a homicidal sort of way but that was Jensen’s life and he’d take whatever he could get when it came to Jared. 

Jensen stepped forward to give his boyfriend a kiss, only remembering at the last moment that he currently didn’t have two functioning legs. He stumbled, his arm reaching out into empty air, and was only saved from a spectacular face-plant by a strong arm around his waist hauling him back upright. _That_ probably messed up the misdirection thing he’d had going on, and the pissed off look now on his boyfriend’s face only confirmed it. Damn, he’d been so close to getting off without a lecture.

‘What are you doing here, Jensen?’ Jared asked again, steel in his voice. 

Jensen thought about making a joke but he was pretty sure that would go down even worse than the truth, ‘I hate it there, Jay, you know that. Clearly I can manage without being in the hospital; I got all the way here on my own.’ 

‘What? You took the fucking bus? Jesus, Jensen, you’ve got a twelve inch gash on your leg, you needed 22 stitches and two pints of blood.’ Jared growled, his arm tightening around Jensen’s waist. Jensen didn’t expect the hug but he leaned into it all the same when he felt Jared’s arms envelope his body. ‘You need to take better care of yourself, Jensen.’ 

‘I’m sorry but I couldn’t stay there.’ Jensen said quietly into Jared’s neck. Jared pulled back slightly and looked down at him, his expression a mixture of understanding and reproach.

‘Did you at least call your mom and Beaver to tell them that you were breaking out?’ He asked.

Crap! Jensen hadn’t even thought of that. He hoped his mom hadn’t already called in at the hospital; she’d freak out when she realised that he wasn’t there and Jim, well Jim, would probably be just as pissed as Jared was at him. ‘Come on, get inside. I need to get out of the sun and you need to get off your feet, you look like you’re about to drop.’ Jared leaned down and Jensen put his arm around Jared’s broad shoulder and allowed himself to be steered into the apartment. 

Jensen moved to walk over to Jared’s bed but Jared led him towards the living room instead, ‘Nope, you’ve gotta call your mom and Jim first and then we’re getting you in the shower.’ Jensen blushed hotly at the image that prompted and looked away quickly. _Jesus_ , Jared all wet and naked and freaking huge in the shower with him. 

‘Don’t worry, Jen, as much as I’d love to take a shower with you, you’re really in no condition for what I’d want to do to you in there so you’re gonna be showering alone tonight.’ The blush lingered on Jensen’s cheeks at the promise of a future date in the shower…as in him and Jared in the shower, naked and wet and did he mention huge? Because his boyfriend was pretty fucking huge. And he was pretty damn sure that Jared was going to be huge everywhere.

‘Yep, _totally_ proportional, baby.’ Oh God! Had he just said that out loud? Jensen felt the blush creep down his neck to his chest, and had he not been hampered by his injured leg he would totally have run into the bathroom and locked himself in there for the rest of the night or, maybe the year, depending how he felt later…a year was looking pretty inviting right then. 

Instead, he was forced to cling to Jared as the man led him over to the couch and sat him down. If anyone ever asked about that evening or if Jared ever, ever brought it up again, Jensen was totally going to blame those happy little pills he had taken that morning. That was believable, right?  
  



	33. Chapter Thirty-Three.

** Chapter Thirty-Three. **

 

** Jensen. **

For once, Jensen’s felt almost normal; he was on a field trip with the rest of his class to the Natural History Museum. He didn’t have to worry that some evil beastie was going to jump him or Jim was going to come and find him with some End of the Worldy crisis. He felt relaxed. It was awesome. 

It was a little disappointing that the Museum’s new Egyptian exhibit wasn’t scheduled to open for another week since there was no way that Jensen was _voluntarily_ stepping foot in the Museum again, like ever, despite the fact that it served as a convenient hiding place from his Watcher. Really, any place that wasn’t school, Jared’s, his house or the library could provide that and the Museum just screamed ‘learning’ way too much to be really fun. 

Misha, of course, was having a whale of a time and kept dragging Jensen off to show him things. Jensen really tried to be enthusiastic but after seeing his third ancient Greek vase in a row, he could almost feel how plastic his smile looked. Once you’ve seen one piece of ancient crockery, you’ve seen them all, right?

‘Meesh, I think I’m just going to go browse in the gift shop, see if I can find something that’s equal parts tacky and pretty for Mack.’ Jensen said, pulling his arm out of Misha’s strong grip.

‘No! Wait, one more thing…just _one_ more thing, Jen, then we’re done.’ Jensen rolled his eyes but followed his friend. 

Jensen stopped and folded his arms across his chest when Misha ducked under the red tape. ‘Misha, no way. I want one trip where I don’t have to worry about getting expelled or suspended or arrested okay. There’s no way I’m going in there.’

‘Come on Jen, I just have one thing I want to see before they put up all the ropes up next week and I can’t get near it.’ Misha argued, disappearing into the exhibit.

‘No Misha.’ Jensen replied sternly; he really couldn’t get into trouble with his mom again, getting grounded made it really difficult to patrol and, even more importantly, it made it almost impossible to see Jared. Plus Jim would kill him if he got suspended. Again.

‘Misha.’ Jensen hissed. His friend could be a real ass sometimes; Misha’s school record was exemplary so he’d barely get a warning for being caught back there whereas Jensen would get strung up after all the black marks on his file. Add to the fact that his parents were so laid back they were practically horizontal, Misha didn’t have a lot at stake if he got caught. 

A bright flash of light and a yell had Jensen immediately ducking under the tape; punishments be damned. When he reached his friend, Misha was getting up and shaking his head, looking a little dazed. ‘Misha are you alright?’

‘Yeah, I’m fine. I…I don’t know what happened.’ Jensen studied his friend, letting his gaze wander up and down the other boy’s body, checking for any sign of injury. He seemed unharmed. 

‘What were you looking at anyway?’ Jensen asked, looking around the exhibit to see if he could figure out what had made that flash and why. He didn’t think he’d imagined it.

‘Uh,’ Misha shook his head again and Jensen wondered if the guy had hit his head, when he fell down, and given himself a concussion; he’d have to keep an eye on him till they got back to the library. He’d get Jim to check Misha out just to make sure. ‘Just some old urns and tablets, nothing special. Look Jensen, can we go? I’m feeling a bit sick.’ Yep, definitely concussion; looked like a long night ahead for Jensen then. He just about resisted saying ‘I told you so’ since Misha did look kind of green and Jensen decided that the guy had probably suffered enough. 

****

When they got back to the library, Jensen fed Jim some story about Misha tripping over his own feet so Jim wouldn’t ask any awkward questions and neither Jensen nor Misha would get into trouble. Jim felt the back of Misha’s head for any lumps and checked his pupils then deemed him fit and concussion free. 

Jensen was a little wary of that assessment, given Misha’s behaviour at the Museum, but he trusted Jim; the man knew more about patching up wounds than Jensen could ever learn in a lifetime so he let it go. Anyway, Misha was back to his usual bubbly self again so all was right in Jensen’s world again. 

Shoulda known that couldn’t last.

****

‘I’m bored, let’s go do something.’ 

Jensen looked up from the stake he was sharpening to stare at his friend. ‘Um, kinda am doing something here, Meesh.’ Jensen pointed to all the other weapons that were laid out on the library table that needed cleaning and sharpening. 

‘No…something _fun_.’ Misha said, shaking his head as though that were obvious from his statement. 

‘Since when was reading dusty old tomes not fun to you?’ Jensen asked; that was the first time, ever, that Misha had suggested that they do something else when Jensen was training. Misha was always more than happy to sit reading while Jensen worked out but obviously not today.

‘Since now. Come on, let’s go to The Silver.’

Jensen laughed and stood up, moving round the table to grab one of the long swords at the back, ‘Who are you and what have you done with Misha? You hate that place.’ In all fairness, Jensen wasn’t a huge fan of the place either but they’d gone there a couple of times when Chris’ band was playing. Misha, though, always seemed pretty uncomfortable so his suggestion was more than a little out of character. 

And the hard slap he gave Jensen’s ass, even more so. 

‘Come on, you’ve been training for hours, Jim’ll give you the night off I’m sure.’ Jensen looked at his friend and the smirk on his face, so different from the smile Misha usually wore, even when he was up to some kind of mischief. There was also a heat in Misha’s there that made Jensen blush and look away.

‘Yes, by all means, Jensen, you’ve been working hard lately; I’ll do a quick patrol round the cemeteries tonight for you. You go and have a night with your friends.’ Well, the surprises just kept coming. ‘Jensen, be careful though.’

‘Will do, Jim, uh…thanks.’ He turned and threw one of the daggers from the table through the air at the target on the wall, hitting the dead centre of the board. Huh, maybe that night was gonna be a good night after all.

****

The Silver was booming by the time they got there and Jensen had to wrestle his way to the bar for drinks for the four of them. Fake ID in hand, he got four beers without any trouble and thank God, neither Jim nor his mom, knew about that. He sat back down, next to Misha, who was sprawled lazily across one of the leather couches lining the walls of the club.

Chris and Danneel were looking at Misha like he’d grown a second head and Jensen couldn’t blame them. He never seen Misha this relaxed, ever. Misha was always hyped up about something, whether it was geeking out (for want of a better word) about some fact he’d just looked up or freaking out about getting beaten up by the nearest bully in the vicinity. Jensen loved him; the guy was a huge ball of nervous energy, most of the time, who made Jensen smile even on his shittiest days. 

But the Misha sitting next to him right then…he was a completely different person. He watched in shock as Misha blatantly checked out the ass of a passing girl and Jensen had to slap his friend’s hand away when he reached out to pinch it. Not only was that just gross and assholish behaviour but the girl had her boyfriend with her who looked like he might have played football in high school. Jensen really didn’t want to get into a fight on one of his rare nights off ‘cause, really, that guy could probably punch all of Misha’s teeth out in one hit. ‘Misha, for Christ’s sake, what the Hell are you doing?’

Misha’s bright blue gaze swung back to him, ‘Having fun.’ He shrugged and grabbed Jensen’s wrist in a surprisingly tight grasp that Jensen had kind of a hard time shaking off. Weird. ‘Come on, let’s dance.’

Misha pulled Jensen onto the dance floor and Jensen felt unbelievably uncomfortable – the song playing wasn’t really one that he wanted to be dancing with his best friend to, in the middle of a crowded club. Heck, he wasn’t sure he would even have danced with _Jared_ to that particular song in public; Sunnydale was progressive but there were still a lot of ignorant jerks out there and Jensen had just stopped them from getting into one fight, he didn’t want to start another one. ‘Uh Meesh, I really don’t think...’ A finger pressed his lips shut and that was a way too intimate gesture for Jensen to be happy with.

‘You think too much Jensen,’ Misha purred in his ear. He was even less happy when he felt two hands land on his ass, ‘Just go with it.’

Jensen was just about to push his best friend away and maybe chuck some holy water on him when he felt a strong arm wrap around his chest. 

‘What the fuck is going on here?’ Despite Jared’s angry tone, the growl actually made Jensen feel better as he relaxed back into the man’s broad chest. 

‘Just having some fun, vampire. Now why don’t you just go back to whatever hole you crawled out of and leave me and Jen alone to finish dancing?’ Misha’s arm shot out to grab Jensen’s arm and he was, again, surprised by the strength of the man’s grip. 

But Misha was no match for a pissed off Jared though and Jensen felt himself pulled backwards through the crowd and out of the club into the alley. 

Jared immediately let go of Jensen when they were outside. ‘Jensen, what the Hell was that?’

‘I have no freaking idea.’ Jensen replied, shaking his head and looking back at the door of the club; he really didn’t know what had just happened in there. Was it all some joke and Misha was going to burst out the doors laughing at any moment? Was it simply to piss Jared off? Misha really didn’t like him after all.

Jensen was shaken from his thoughts by Jared moving back towards the exit. He grabbed Jared’s arm before being shaken off. ‘Where are you going, Jared?’

‘ _What_? I see some guy with his hands all over my boyfriend and you expect me to just let that go?’ Jared growled angrily at him.

‘It wasn’t _some_ guy, it was Misha. Come on Jay, I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.’ Jensen reasoned; it was Misha, for pity’s sake, the guy was his best friend. 

‘Yeah and you weren’t exactly pushing him away either, Jen.’ Jared muttered under his breath.

‘Well if you’d given me half a second I would have.’ Jensen shot back, indignant; that was totally unfair, Jensen had barely even registered what had been going on. 

Suddenly, Jared was right in front of him, so close that Jensen could feel the man’s breath ghosting over his skin. Jensen felt his heart rate speed up, half from fear, half from anticipation. ‘Shouldn’t take you half a second, Jensen.’

And what the Hell was Jared actually implying? That he had some secret yearning for Misha and that he was what? Screwing Misha on the side? Fucking hypocrite.

Jensen shoved the taller man away, ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me. You’re lecturing me about cheating. That’s fucking rich coming from you Jared.’

‘That wasn’t the same and you know it.’ Jared said darkly, narrowing his eyes at Jensen.

‘You’re right, it wasn’t. I don’t think of Misha that way, I never have, and I’m pretty damn sure he doesn’t think of me like that. I have no idea what that was in there but I’m sure there’s some logical explanation. Whereas you and Sandy…’ He counted each one off on his fingers. ‘One, you had history together, two, you _lied_ to me about meeting her, and yeah, three, she tried to get you to eat me. So yeah, you’re right, it _wasn’t_ the same thing, not even in the same freaking hemisphere.’ 

With that Jensen turned and walked away. He heard Jared moving behind him, ‘Don’t follow me Jared, or one of us is gonna say something we’re gonna regret in the morning.’ He looked, pointedly, over his shoulder at the taller man, ‘Well, something else.'  
  



	34. Chapter Thirty-Four.

** Chapter Thirty-Four. **

 

** Jensen. **

Jensen felt awkward walking into school the next day, he didn’t really know what he was going to say to his best friend. Did he even want to bring up what had happened? The prospect wasn’t all that appealing but last night hadn’t been okay, and Jared was right, it had been a little weird dancing with Misha like that even if it had been just a joke. 

As he neared the gates Jensen changed his mind, ignoring the little voice in his head that was calling him a coward, he was just going to ignore it, pretend it didn’t happen. It wasn’t like it meant anything anyway. Denial was a totally healthy decision, and Jensen, he was the freaking master at it.

Jensen saw Danneel and Chris by his locker wearing matching apprehensive expressions as he approached.

‘Hey guys. Where’s Misha?’ Going for casual but failing miserably. 

‘He’s uh…not coming in today.’ Danneel replied, still looking worried. 

Jensen eyebrows shot up to his hairline. ‘Is he sick?’ Misha _never_ missed school, the guy hadn’t even had a tardy since Jensen had started and Jensen was pretty sure that trend had been maintained long before he came to Sunnydale. Maybe Misha _was_ sick, maybe that was what caused the strange behaviour the night before. And whilst he didn’t want his friend to be sick, a delusional, feverish Misha was easier to handle than …well whatever kind of Misha he’d had to deal with last night.

‘Not technically.’ Danneel hedged.

‘What is it Danni?

‘He said he was playing hooky.’

That surprised a laugh out of Jensen, ‘Who? Misha –Don’t-you-dare-fuck-up-my-attendance-record-or-I’ll-kill-you-Collins?’

‘Yeah I know. It’s kind of strange, Jen, he’s never taken a sick day, like ever, he even came to school in the third grade with freaking pneumonia. And with his…behaviour last night. I think something’s wrong.’

‘Look, Danni, I’m sure it’s nothing, maybe Misha’s just going through something right now.’ God only knew what; Jensen might be a teenager but he was far from normal and couldn’t always get a grip on the stuff they went through. He supposed people’s priorities were slightly different when they didn’t have to battle demons and werewolves every day. He probably wasn’t the best judge on this. 

‘I’ll go talk to him tonight, see if it’s, you know, a guy thing.’ He shrugged, blushing for a second and praying that whatever Misha was going through, it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about. Jesus, why couldn’t the guy just talk to Danni about this kind of shit? 

****

Jensen walked out of the quad, as soon as the bell rang signalling the end of the day, and turned towards the sound of a motorbike. Jared? What the heck was he doing here? _And_ in the middle of the freaking day, the guy better be wearing leathers on his leathers or Jensen was gonna tear him a new one. 

But the guy who jumped off the bike and walked up to him was way shorter and nowhere near as broad as his boyfriend. The visor flipped up and Jensen was greeted by the same arrogant smirk that had graced his Misha’s face the night before. Jensen really didn’t like it and it had no place on his kind, mild mannered best friend’s face. 

‘Wanna ride, baby?’ And Hell to the no. Jensen had had enough of this Misha; whatever crisis his friend was going through, it didn’t give him a free pass to act like an asshole. And it certainly didn’t let give him the right to risk his life on that two-wheeled death machine. How had Misha even manage to hold of a bike so fast?

‘No I fucking don’t. Where the fuck did you get this from?’ Misha’s parents might’ve been richer than God but Jensen didn’t think even they would just walk out and buy Misha a bike overnight. The guy didn’t even know how to ride one of these monsters and when had he gotten a licence for one? 

Misha’s shrug was simply not enough of an answer for Jensen. ‘Get the Hell away from that thing, we need to talk.’ Jensen tried to pull Misha away from the bike but he couldn’t seem to move the smaller boy which, well, was rather confusing. 

‘Oh baby, I can think of way more entertaining things for you to do with your mouth than talking.’

‘Fuck Misha, what is wrong with you? You blow off Danneel, your other half, you piss of my very undead and very strong boyfriend, who really didn’t like you all that much anyway, and then you start acting even more obnoxious than some of the jocks on the football team. What gives, man?’ Jensen asked desperately, he couldn’t even start to help if he didn’t know what the freaking problem was.

‘Nothing’s _wrong_ with me Jensen, in fact, I’ve never felt better. I feel like I can do fucking anything and you know what, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.’ Misha jumped back on the bike, pulling Jensen up with him, before he could protest, and held Jensen in front of him on the seat. 

‘Misha...I...’

‘Hold on tight, baby, this is gonna be one Hell of a ride.’ Jensen gripped the handles over Misha’s hands, terrified. It was so unlike riding with Jared; with Jared, he felt a little scared, sure, the lack of control and the speed could be terrifying but it was exhilarating at the same time, something that he and Jared shared, an intimate moment of closeness and trust. Jared would never let anything happen to him. 

Jensen couldn’t say the same of Misha and right then, Jensen felt anything but safe and he gripped the handlebars all the tighter for it. 

****

After what seemed like forever to Jensen, with his eyes squeezed tightly shut, the bike came to a screeching stop. For a second, Jensen almost thought they were going to crash but the stop was steady and easy and Jensen was able to jump off quickly onto somewhat shaking legs. 

‘Jesus Christ Misha.’ Jensen breathed, quickly swallowing down the urge to throw up; the knot of tension in his stomach he’d been carrying around since last night had tripled on the ride over. 

After a few moments, when Jensen felt his equilibrium had returned enough for him to stand up straight without either falling down or vomiting, he straightened up. He glared daggers at his best friend as the other man jumped deftly off the bike with more grace than he’d seen Misha ever possess. Christ, the guy could barely walk without tripping up, who the Hell was this asshole? 

‘That was not cool, man, not cool at all.’ Jensen said putting as much venom into his voice as possible.

Misha merely shrugged, ‘You let that vampire do whatever he wants to you, I just figured you liked the danger,’

Jensen bristled at the implication behind that; Misha knew how dangerous Jensen’s job was and how likely it was that Jensen was going to die young. To imply that Jensen was some kind of adrenaline junkie was not only insulting it was also stupid; Jensen would take boring and safe over exciting and deadly, any day of the week. 

‘Don’t be so fucking stupid Misha. Why don’t you just go home and leave me alone. I’ve gotta go patrolling, I’ll see you tomorrow and hopefully you’ll have stopped being such a jerk by then but I won’t hold my breath.’ Jensen turned away from the other boy and sighed a breath of relief when he saw his boyfriend at the other end of the graveyard. His sense of relief was short lived, however, when he saw the look on the older man’s face. The look he sent Misha could have melted granite and Jensen merely rolled his eyes, he didn’t have it in him to deal with a jealous boyfriend and an overly obnoxiously best friend all in one day. ‘Just go Misha.’

‘Actually, I was kind of thinking of sticking around for a while, helping you with the Slaying tonight.’ It wasn’t that his friends never helped with patrolling, it was just that it was rare and Jensen kind of tried to make sure it only happened in emergencies when there was a big bad in town or when he or Jared had something else they needed to do. And in general, it was really only Jim who accompanied Jensen whilst he was patrolling, to critique Jensen’s technique and help him with his training. Misha was certainly never one to volunteer to come out on patrols; Misha was much more about the research than the fighting.

But he supposed it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise seeing as the guy in front of him really wasn’t anything like the friend he’d come to know over the past year. 

‘Meesh, come on, man, I really can’t deal with this right now can you _please_ just go home?’ Instead of getting back on his monstrosity of a bicycle, like Jensen was hoping the guy would do, Misha walked up to his side and pulled the stake that Jensen had stowed down the back of his pants. Jensen managed not to jump at the unexpected contact, but only just, and he was pretty sure that Jared picked up on his discomfort anyway. 

Misha’s hands were spending an awful lot of time in the vicinity of Jensen’s ass lately, and while that seriously creeped Jensen out he was pretty sure it pissed Jared off more. 

‘Jensen’s right, you should really leave, _kid_.’ Yep, definitely more. Jared knew that the nickname would piss Misha off, just like it did Jensen whenever Jared used it. ‘Wouldn’t want you to get hurt now.’ 

Jensen scowled at Jared at that; that was a low blow. None of his friends had any kind of innate abilities, like Jared and Jensen had, and they still stood by Jensen, and fought with him, despite the dangers. Jensen thought his friends were much braver than he was; he had no choice but to do this, whereas they did and had they decided to fight with him every single time. Even if Misha _was_ being a complete douche, Jensen wasn’t happy about Jared taking cheap shots at his friends. 

The smile that spread across Misha’s usually handsome face was dark and mocking and Jensen felt Jared put his hand on his shoulder and push him slightly behind his larger body. ‘You know, vampire, just because Jensen’s sweet on you, doesn’t mean _I_ have any problem driving a stake through that dead heart of yours. We’d all be better off.’ The growl from Jared only seemed to amuse Misha more when usually it would’ve had the shorter man backing off (and usually hiding behind Danneel).

‘Misha, come on, you know that’s not true.’ Jensen reasoned trying desperately to relieve the mounting tension before Jared punched Misha through a tree.

‘Really, Jen? You’re just blinded by his charm and can’t see how badly he treats you; you really think something like him can really love anything but itself.’ Misha was instantly up against the tree with Jared’s large hand around his neck threatening to cut off the boy’s air supply. 

‘You shut your mouth. You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.’ Jensen was just about to step in and send one of them home (God it was like middle school all over again, only much, much more violent) when to Jensen’s absolute horror and Jared’s shock, Misha simply reached down and began to pry Jared’s fingers from his neck. 

A moment later, Jared was flying through the air towards one of the large stone monuments. He met it with a crash, slumping down unconscious under a shower of broken marble. 

‘What the fu...’ Jensen was mid curse when he found himself, back to the same tree with Misha holding both his arms tightly against his body. And Jesus, that kind of hurt. 

Wincing Jensen looked up at his friend, ‘Jesus, Misha, what the Hell?’

Misha moved his head from side to side, as though stretching his muscles, and Jensen winced at the loud crack he heard. That didn’t sound right. ‘Just making a few changes Jensen,’ his friend’s eyes flashed red for just a second and had Jensen been anyone but the Slayer, he might have missed it. As it was, his mind began rushing through the hundreds of possibilities of what could have happened to his friend. ‘But we all know how much you like a bit of demon in your guys.’ The kiss was rough and almost primal, and Jensen was sure from the sting on his bottom lip that the blood he could taste in his mouth was his own. 

Jensen let the horror, that something had gotten to his friend, wash out of him, let himself fall back on his training. Instinctively, he drew his head back as far as the tree would allow and smashed it into Misha’s face. The howl of rage and pain was inhuman and Jensen wished he could get his hands up to cover his ears.

Jensen sucked in a gasp when his stake penetrated the bark right next to his head and he stared into Misha’s rage-filled red eyes. ‘ _That_ was not sensible Slayer. But clearly you’re not ready to accept this, me, just yet so I’ll give you a couple of days to round to the idea.’ He stroked his hand down Jensen’s face, almost tenderly, and then pulled the stake back out of the tree, ‘Better take this.’ He winked and stalked back to his bike. The next moment he was gone. 

Jensen knew that he should have been chasing Misha down; whatever was hitching a ride in his friend was bound to cause some sort of trouble, but he had to see if Jared was alright first. Jared didn’t get hurt all that often; few things hunted down vampires (well except for Jensen, and Jared had been off his list for a while) and in their fights together, most evil creatures aimed their hatred at Jensen rather than Jared. He knelt down next to the larger man and gently shook his shoulder. 

‘Jay? Jared?’ Jared groaned and rolled over, opening one eye to look at Jensen. ‘Jay, you alright?’ Jensen asked concerned by Jared’s lack of response. 

‘I think there’s something wrong with your friend.’ The vampire said dumbly. 

Jensen snorted, but swallowed down the ‘ _ya think?_ ’ that his snarky self wanted to say. Jared had just hit his head really hard so Jensen decided to go easy on him for once. ‘Yeah, I know, his eyes turned red and he said something about a demon. I need to ring Jim, see if he can give me anything else but without knowing what did this, I’m thinking he’s not gonna be much help.’ Jensen pulled Jared to his feet watching quietly as Jared dusted off his clothes. Wow, the angel didn’t look much like an angel anymore as another chuck of marble broke off the statue. 

‘Come on, we gotta go find Jim and fix this.’ 

 

 


	35. Chapter Thirty-Five.

  
** Chapter Thirty-Five.  **

 

** Jensen. **

‘So, you say he’s been acting strangely since your trip to the museum?’ Jim asked.

‘Yeah, ever since he…uh…snuckintothecordonedoffexhibit.’ Jensen rushed out the confession, studiously not looking at his Watcher. 

‘The cordoned off exhibit?’ Disapproval laced the man’s tone. 

‘Look, I _tried_ to stop him but you know what Misha’s like with all that stuff. Anyway, there was this really bright flash of light and I ran over to find him on the floor. He was a little out of it but he seemed okay.’ Misha _had_ seemed alright, Jensen hadn’t missed anything right? _Jim_ had even said he was fine.

Jim sighed, ‘Alright, you need to go back to that exhibit, Jensen, take pictures of everything there and send them back to me. But it sounds like a possession to me.’ Jim said, already moving toward his office and his collection of more specialised books. 

‘Possession?! But…but he’ll be okay right? We get that bastard out of him, and he’ll be fine?’ Jensen asked anxiously. Why hadn’t he tried harder to keep Misha out of that exhibit? Jensen knew what kind of curses and bad mojo those things carry.

‘He should be, as long as we haven’t left it too long.’ _As long as you haven’t left it too long._ Jensen swallowed; that didn’t sound all that promising. 

‘And what happens if we have?’ Jensen asked quietly, _needing_ to know the answer more than wanting to know it. 

Jim looked up at him then, a sad expression clouding his face, _oh Hell no!_ ‘Then we have no idea how tangled up his soul has become with whatever being is in his body. If they become too strongly linked then we may never be able to tear it out of him.’

‘What will happen to him…what will happen to Misha, Jim?’ Jensen asked urgently, his voice rising in panic. He was already picking up his bag, ready to go back to the museum. 

‘Then there will _be_ no Misha; he will simply cease to exist and the creature will fully take over his body.’ Jim replied simply, but the slight waver in his voice gave away his own feelings about the situation; he cared for Misha too.

‘Okay. Okay. Right.’ Jensen said running a hand through his hair, ‘Come on Jay, we need to get to that museum and get that bastard out of my best friend.’ Jensen grabbed Jared by the arm and started pulling him towards the library doors; they needed to find out whatever this was, before it was too late. 

****

The museum was dark, as one would expect at night, and Jensen and Jared slipped through the corridors unnoticed. Once Jensen made it to the exhibit, he got Jared to stand watch; there had to be security guards around and they would need time to hide if one happened to come along before they were done. Jensen flicked open his phone and took pictures of each of the artefacts in the exhibit then sent the photos to Jim. When he’d finished, he left the exhibit and sat down next to Jared, on the cold marble floor, waiting for Jim’s response. 

‘He’s gonna be alright, Jen; it hasn’t been that long, the demon would need more time to take him over.’ Jared said, his hand finding Jensen’s and lacing their fingers together. 

‘I hope so.’ Jensen answered. They sat there in silence with Jared’s thumb stroking the back of Jensen’s hand soothingly; it was almost enough to calm his troubled thoughts. He jumped slightly, twenty minutes later, when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

Jim had sent him back a picture of one of the tablets from the exhibit, with a message underneath it, 

‘IT’S THIS ONE – TAKE IT.’

‘Looks like we’ve found our guy.’ Jensen got up, wiped off his trousers and re-entered the exhibit. He grabbed the tablet and sprinted after Jared to the exit. 

****

‘What are you doing Chris?’

‘Taking pictures.’ Chris replied simply, taking another picture with his camera phone. 

‘Yeah I can see that. I was actually wondering more as to the _why_ you were taking photos of our best friend getting up close and personal with pretty much every person in this place.’ Jensen asked; his eyes were still glued on Misha where he was grinding and rubbing up against anything that moved in The Silver. 

‘Well, either he’s gonna think this is really awesome and want a copy of the pictures or he’s gonna feel completely humiliated and want every last copy destroyed. Either way, these babies are gonna serve as excellent blackmail material for, like, the next ten years.’ Chris smirked evilly as he took another picture.

‘God, you are so cruel.’ Jensen huffed out a laugh. He laid down the tablet on one of the tables in the back of the club, hoping that the shadows were dark enough to hide him from view. Luckily, most of the club was riveted by the crazy show that Misha was putting on so he didn’t think that he had to worry about being noticed. 

Jensen took out the pouch of herbs that Jim had given him and sprinkled them over the tablet before smearing them over the glyphs carved into the rock’s surface.

Jensen began to recite the banishing incantation under his breath from the slip of paper Jim had given him when a dark shadow fell over the tablet. He gulped and looked up to see an irate Misha looking down at him, his narrowed eyes flicking between Jensen and the tablet.

‘Um, Misha, I...I didn’t know you were here…how…how are you doing?’ He babbled as he spotted Chris and Jared creep up behind the blue eyed boy, ready to grab him until Jensen was finished. Just before they reached him, Misha turned around and flicked a hand in their direction, sending the guys crashing into a nearby wall. They both slumped down unconscious. 

Shit.

Misha turned back to Jensen, ‘I see that you know who I am then.’ It wasn’t a question as Misha, or probably more accurately now, the demon wearing his face, pointed down at the tablet. 

‘Yes, I know who you are, Shezmu, and I also know how to get you out of my friend. And believe me, it’s not gonna be a whole lot of fun for you. So why don’t you hop on out of that body and we’ll call it quits - you go back to sleep and I won’t put you through a whole mountain of pain?’ Jensen threatened, his hand closing protectively over the tablet; he had to complete the incantation first before he could banish the demon.

The voice that answered him was far deeper than Misha’s, with a slight accent that Misha’s had never held. There was no doubt left that his friend had been buried deep inside so that the demon could rise to the surface. This needed to be over now. ‘Hmmm. I do not think so. I like this world and I like this body. Times have changed; people are so much more liberated than they were back in my time.’ He trailed a hand down his body, _Misha’s_ body, the asshole.

Jensen immediately began the incantation again, trying to get the words out as quickly as possible, until a harsh backhand across the face sent him to the floor.

‘Stop it, boy! I do not want to hurt you; I have plans for you, but if you try that again I will.’ Jensen spat blood, from his bitten cheek, onto the ground.

‘Right. Not that I’m not super excited about all those plans you have for me, I think I’m gonna have to pass.’ He sprung up, not letting his eyes dart to Danni like they wanted to, as she approached Misha from behind. She quickly threw the amulet around Misha’s neck and stepped back out of range immediately. The man threw his head back in pain, clawing at the talisman hanging around his neck. 

‘What? What devilry is this?’ 

‘It’s a banishment rune, you ass.’ Jensen resumed his incantation. ‘Daemonium, vade. Te expello. Hinc excede!’ Jensen snatched up the tablet just as Misha’s hand shoved him away, sending Jensen flying across the room into a table. Groaning, he rolled over and drew the bronze knife from the back of his pants. Jensen plunged the blade into the tablet, splitting the rock into three large pieces. 

Misha screamed an inhuman scream, as a black form lurched out of his body and exploded in front of him, before he slumped to the floor. 

Jensen crawled over to Misha and prodded him in the cheek, trying to rouse him. He had to make sure it had worked before he checked out Misha’s injuries. ‘Misha…Misha, wake up.’ 

Misha blinked his blue eyes open, ‘Jen?’ The voice was most definitely Misha’s, even if it did sound a little groggy, ‘What’s going on?’

‘Oh nothing, just a little demonic possession, is all.’ Jensen said sarcastically, before struggling to his feet, holding his bruised side. ‘And the next time when I say don’t touch, just don’t _fucking_ touch, okay?’ Misha nodded, looking more confused than ever, and Jensen just hoped that the guy wouldn’t remember what had happened over the last few days. 

****

 

** Jim.  **

 

Misha was sitting in the library researching again; the boy seemed back to normal and claimed not to remember anything that had happened while he was possessed. Jim walked over to the large desk in the middle of the library, taking the seat across from the kid.

‘So you still feeling alright, Misha?’ He asked, eyeing the boy curiously. 

Misha looked up from the book and smiled, ‘Yeah I feel great. Still a little foolish, according to Chris I acted like a bit of an idiot.’

‘According to Chris?’ Misha nodded, instantly dropping his gaze back down to the book. ‘You know, Misha, I did some research on what happened to you and I couldn’t find any mention of memory loss.’ Jim didn’t miss the flush that took over the boy’s cheeks.

‘Oh that’s…um…strange.’ Misha replied, trying to look engrossed in the book he was reading. 

‘Yes, strange.’ Jim waited, for a moment, and then Misha let out a wary sigh, knowing that he was caught.

‘You can’t tell him.’ Misha said quietly, ‘Jim, just don’t tell Jen, alright? It would just be awkward and it’s embarrassing enough already, okay?’

‘Alright, son, I won’t tell him.’ Jim replied, ‘You know it wouldn’t matter anyway; that boy is so damn blind that you could write ‘I love you’ all over his locker and he still wouldn’t notice.’ It was meant as a joke, something to lighten the mood, but Misha didn’t laugh he just quietly answered, 

‘I know.’

 

 


	36. Chapter Thirty-Six.

  
** Chapter Thirty-Six. **

** Jensen. **

It was hot in Jensen's room; he never left the window open after dark, never knowing what might just crawl through. He shifted restlessly on the bed, his body tangled with the sheets, as his clothes stuck uncomfortably to the thin sheen of sweat covering his skin. Finally, unable to settle with the oppressive heat of his sheets, Jensen threw off the billowing covers and lay back down on his bed with a relieved sigh, relishing the slight coolness that swept over his body.

A hand on his thigh had Jensen’s eyes jerking open, but his head was too muggy and sleep filled for him to do more than just stare at its owner. _Jared?_ What was Jared doing in his room in the middle of the night, maybe something was wrong? He went to ask when Jared leaned down and placed one of his long fingers against Jensen’s lips and shook his head, smirking down at Jensen.

Jensen was beyond confused and he willed his sleep addled mind to get with the programme. However, that wasn't going to happen any time soon, not with Jared's hand moving slowly up his thigh, his grip tightening. Jensen felt his breathing pick up, the way it always did when Jared touched him, and his cheeks flushed with arousal. 

Jensen’s eyes slipped closed as Jared's hand stopped, now high up on his thigh, and began squeezing and caressing the flesh there. It shouldn't have been that erotic, but it was Jared, with his huge, strong hands so close to his groin that Jensen almost lost himself in the sensation, letting his head fall back against the pillow.

Suddenly, the hand was moving again and Jensen felt it press down against his cock. He cried out, only to have Jared's mouth swallow down the cry before he woke his mother, thank _God_. Jensen could feel the smile against his lips as Jared kissed him and began to move his hand slowly over Jensen groin. 

Jensen was panting against Jared’s mouth, his cock hardening as Jared massaged it through his thin sweats. He tried to move his hips up into Jared's hand only to find Jared’s other hand holding his hip to the bed preventing the movement. He should have known that Jared would want to be in control.

Jensen, instead, allowed himself focus on having Jared's huge body pressing him into the mattress and Jared’s hand stroking his cock, just this side of not enough, leaving Jensen desperate for release. 'Jay...Jay...' He panted out quietly but Jared just shook his head and kissed him again. 

Jensen felt like he was coming apart at the seams and felt relieved when Jared began to pull at the sleep t-shirt he was wearing. Jensen went to pull it over his head but Jared stopped him and the vampire ripped it from his chest, the display of strength and passion caused Jensen's breath to catch in his throat. Jared leaned down and started to lay kisses over Jensen’s chest, licking over his nipples, making them peak and tingle, shooting waves of arousal to Jensen’s already hard cock. 

Jensen arched off the bed as he felt Jared bite down just below his nipple and then quickly lick over the hurt; the strange mixture of pleasure and pain was a startlingly arousing combination.

He squirmed underneath Jared's large body; the heat of the night, his arousal, and the maddening friction all sending his arousal up a notch, heck, like _twenty_ notches. 'Jay...' Jensen pleaded again and sent up a silent thanks as the vampire slowly peeled down his sweat and precome damp pants.

Jensen blushed as the larger man drew back and looked down at him with lust filled eyes; he'd never been naked in front of Jared, or anyone else for that matter. He looked away, self-conscious; he'd seen Jared shirtless countless times and the man had a body that would make Hercules jealous, what would he want with Jensen?

Jensen’s doubts were quickly dispelled as Jared leaned down for another hungry kiss and returned his hand to Jensen's erection, that hadn't wilted despite his nerves. Jared sped up the pace on Jensen's cock as he fucked his tongue ruthlessly into Jensen's mouth, taking possession of both the Slayer's mouth and cock. And Jensen felt thoroughly owned. Jensen felt his orgasm building, his breathing erratic and shallow, as Jared applied more pressure to his cock, and just a scrap of fingernail. 'Jay...' He begged. 

Just as he felt a slick finger stroke softly over his entrance his came with a shout...

And shot up in his bed....panting. 

Jensen looked frantically around the room; it was dark and still, no hint of Jared anywhere. Then he looked down at himself; he was still dressed in his t-shirt and sweats, albeit they were damper than they had been when he’d gone to bed. Jensen’s sheets were pooled around his ankles, where he'd clearly thrashed about in his dream, and there was a rather large, wet stain painting the front of his sweats. He blushed hotly. That had probably been the most vivid and erotic dream Jensen had ever had; Christ, he hadn't had a wet dream since he was twelve. 

Lying back on his bed, Jensen felt the arousal slowly trickle out of him and, quickly, embarrassment followed in its wake as he thought of how he’d begged Dream Jared, desperately, for everything and anything that he’d give him. God he was so pathetic, Hell, if Jared knew he'd probably be on the next bus out of town.

How was he even going to be able to look Jared in the face after that?

****

It was unfortunate for Jensen that, in the dark of his room, he couldn't see the vivid red mark under his left nipple as he changed into a new set of sleep clothes.

****

A few days later (and a few more racy Jared filled dreams) and Jensen walked into school feeling like he was about to face plant at any moment. He felt exhausted, drained. He assumed that his X-rated dreams, which were allowing him anything but a decent night’s sleep, were to blame. Jensen tried to hide his tiredness, because he really didn't want to have to explain _why_ he felt like shit that day. 

Jensen had managed to discourage Jared from patrolling with him the last couple of nights; Jensen just didn't think he could handle having Jared that close to him, not with all the wicked vivid dreams he was having about the man nightly. Actually, it was almost whenever he closed his eyes, it was really messing with his sleep patterns and he was starting to get sloppy on his hunts. It wasn’t like Jensen had never dreamed about Jared before, the guy was hotness personified, but these recent dreams seemed so much more real and so much more erotic and intimate than anything he’d ever experienced before.

Thankfully, Jensen made it through the rest of the day, only falling asleep once in Spanish, ‘cause, Hell, that class was so boring that it could send you to sleep even if you didn't feel like you hadn’t slept in a last year. So, since Jensen was already half asleep when he’d walked into the room, staying awake had pretty much been a lost cause. 

_Jensen was woken up (just as Jared was tonguing behind his ear) by a sharp jab to the ribs and he jerked backwards, looking over at Misha next to him._

_Misha was looking at him, slack jawed, and Jensen's quickly scrubbed at his face, hoping to get rid of any drool that might be there. God, he hoped he hadn't said anything in his sleep ‘cause that would have been awkward. Jensen nervously looked round the classroom but no-one else was looking at them so apparently he hadn’t. He turned back to Misha and the man was still staring at him, looking a little dumbstruck._

_'What?' Jensen asked, squirming under the scrutiny and the hard-on he was desperately trying to will down._

_'You...you…j…just look a little flushed there, Jensen, and you were breathing really fast.'_ Oh God! _Jensen blushed deeply; he really hoped that Misha couldn't work out what he’d been dreaming about but, from the look on the boy’s face, Jensen guessed that he probably had. 'What were you dreaming about?' Misha's made an attempt to keep his voice casual but Jensen could hear the strain buried underneath and cringed, Jesus, the guy must have been so grossed out._

_'Oh…uh…fighting, and…um…vampires and blood...lots and lots of blood.'_ Heavy breathing, Jensen, come on. _'AND I was running, lots of running...away...from...from all the vampires and…and the blood.' He finished lamely, pointedly looking at the board as their teacher started to right down their homework; it was one giant white mess to Jensen sleep-deprived eyes as he pretended to read it._

_'Oh, right…of course. What else could you possibly have been dreaming about?' Jensen just nodded, not looking at his friend; the man sounded almost as worked up as him about this and he didn't want to embarrass Misha any further because he couldn't keep his fantasies from running rampant._

_‘Yeah, what else.’ Jensen huffed out his chuckle which came out more than a little strangled. He was such a freak, why did he even have friends?_

The rest of the lesson had been spent watching the board more intently than Jensen had done during the whole semester, as he had tried to ignore the glances that Misha had kept sending him, probably wondering what the Hell was wrong with him. 

_Make a list, buddy, make a fucking list._

__

 


	37. Chapter Thirty-Seven.

 

** Chapter Thirty-Seven. **

** Jensen. **

Jensen managed to get through the day without falling asleep again and making any embarrassing sex noises, just about, but Misha had kept throwing him funny looks and that had been just…just really awkward. 

Finally, he was away from everyone and he didn't have to keep up the facade that he was fine; he really felt like he could drop down right there, in the middle of the graveyard, and sleep for a thousand years. And that was never a good thing; Jensen had learned from many painful experiences that if he let his guard down, even for just a moment, then he could be done for. 

That's why it was an incredibly stupid to be out there when he could barely focus enough to put one foot in front of the other, let alone fight anything if he needed to. But what was he supposed to do? Ring Jim and say, ‘Sorry, I’m too tied to Slay tonight because I keep having really vivid dreams about my Sex God boyfriend that are stopping me sleeping and making me so desperate that I can barely think straight.’ Yeah, maybe not. 

Jensen stopped and sat down, resting his head back against a gravestone, and closed his eyes. The cold stone felt good against his overheated skin and he turned his face to rest his cheek against it. Just as Jensen was psyching himself to get back up again, he almost jumped out of his skin when his phone’s loud ringtone sounded from his jeans’ pocket. Scooting down Jensen managed to get the thing out of his pocket, eager to stop the damn music that was sending painful jabs through his brain. He checked the caller ID, **Jared.** Damn it; Jensen had sent a text to the vampire as he'd left school telling him that he wasn't going to be patrolling that night.

'Hello?' Jensen said, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible despite his nerve ratcheting up a couple of degrees; he always found it really hard to lie to the vampire, hence the text.

'Jensen. What are you doing?' Jared asked, his voice pitched low and dangerous, just like Jensen imagined his Dream Jared would talk if the man ever spoke to him, which he didn’t. That thought alone had Jensen blushing; it was lucky that Jared couldn't see him. 

'I told you Jay, I'm just doing some extra training with Jim tonight; he said my quarterstaff skills are pretty shoddy.' It was half true, his quarterstaff skills were shit, 'I'll be at the library all night probably, Jim says I’ve got loads of work to do before we're done.' Jensen hoped that Jared doesn't notice the quiet on his end of the line, even at night the library was never that quiet. 

'Really?' Jensen jumped, knocking his elbow hard against the tombstone, at the hearing the voice next to him. Shit. He looked up and saw Jared standing in front of him, his cell phone held to his ear, peering down at him with an eyebrow raised in question. Jensen sat frozen. How was he meant to explain this? He was crap at lying at the best of times and that was when he’d actually had time to think up a good lie in the first place. 

'Um…I was...Jim sent me home to get my spare...stick.' Jensen said, staring down at the ground; his eyes always betrayed him when he was lying apparently. He was pretty proud of how plausible that excuse sounded and how little he’d stuttered in getting it out. That would fly right?

Jared's silence said _no_ _, that wouldn't fly_. He risked another look up and Jared's narrowed eyes made him fidget on the cold floor. 'What?' He said finally, not able to handle the intensity of Jared's gaze any longer.

'Why’ve you been avoiding me Jensen?' Jared asked, his tone level and sure as if there were no question that Jensen had, indeed, been avoiding him. Which he had, but Jared wasn't supposed to know that. 

'I...what? I haven't.' Jensen rushed out, _wow that was convincing ass!_ He internally rolled his eyes, _why was he such a loser?_

'Really? Because I haven't seen you in days and, every time I try to, you seem to put me off with something. To me, that seems awfully like avoidance.' Jared replied, reaching down to pull Jensen to his feet.

Without thinking, Jensen flinched away; he wasn't up to having Jared holding him right then. Jensen was already hard from Jared's voice and his smell and he _really_ didn't want to have to explain why he was sitting in the middle of a graveyard with a fucking hard on. It would lead to embarrassing confessions and secrets about dreams that he was quite happy to take to his grave. 

'Jensen?' For the first time that evening, Jared's voice took on a new quality. It sounded a lot like concern with a hint panic laced underneath; not what Jensen needed at all. Jensen sighed and stood up, subtly adjusting his sweats; he was glad that he’d worn the loose ones and hoped they covered up anything particularly humiliating. 

'Sorry, I'm just a bit tired today.' Jensen told the man, by way of explanation. It didn't seem to be enough for Jared, though, as the man's look of concern didn't leave his face, 'Seriously. It's nothing, I just haven't...um...been sleeping all that well lately.' 

Jared nodded. Jensen wasn't surprised that the man had believed that half-truth; he knew that he looked like shit; it had been another reason why he hadn’t wanted Jared to see him. Jared never looked anything less than gorgeous, even torn up and bloody, the man still looked like something out of magazine.

'And avoiding me?'

'I haven't been.' Jensen lied again, Jensen followed his tried and tested method of ‘if in doubt – deny, deny, deny’. 'And tonight, well tonight, Jim just wanted me to patrol on my own; he said I was getting a little sloppy relying on you all the time.' He sent up a silent apology to Jim, knowing that the man would never think anything of the sort; despite his obvious dislike of Jared, Jim was glad that someone had Jensen's back as he hunted. But Jensen was desperate for a plausible lie and this was the best that he could come up, 'I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't like it.' He finished, feeling a little dirty like he always did when he lied.

Jared clenched his jaw but Jensen thought that he looked more angry than disbelieving so he must have bought Jensen's story and merely have been pissed off about it, just as Jensen had hoped he would be. 'Well that's fucking ridiculous, I always knew the man was an idiot.'

'Jay, he's not. He's just trying to do what's best for me, you know that.' He felt even more guilty knowing that he was widening the wedge between his boyfriend and his Watcher; not that that needed much help.

'Doesn't look like that to me.' Jared mumbled, 'Anyway, I'm here now so why don't we just get this show on the road.'

'NO!' Jensen almost shouted. He was way too strung out and tired right then, there was no way he was going to make it through the whole night with Jared without Jensen blurting out everything he wanted Jared to do to him. 'No, I'm just gonna head home; I'm really tired…like I said, I was thinking of heading back actually when you called.' _Liar._

'Jen, it's 7.30?'

'I know, I know but I'm exhausted and I came here straight from school, so I've already done Mercer Cemetery and given this one a quick sweep; that should be good enough for tonight.' Jensen had been to the other cemetery first and he hadn't met anything there so, hopefully, Jensen's patheticness wouldn't get anyone killed. Not that night anyway. 

Jared eyed him suspiciously again before nodding, 'I'll stay out tonight Jen, you go home and get some rest and we'll meet up again tomorrow.' Why did that sound like more of a threat than a promise?

Jensen just nodded and hoped his night was dream free so that, at least tomorrow, his brain would be awake enough to ensure that he didn't start humping Jared's leg in the middle of patrolling. 

****

** Jared. **

Jared knew that there was something wrong with his boyfriend; Jensen was definitely avoiding him, no matter what the other man claimed, and when Jared had seen him earlier that night Jensen had looked skittish.

Jared had done a couple more hours patrolling; more to keep up his promise to Jensen than any real urge to do it. He had far too much on his mind, worrying about his Slayer, to focus on anything else. 

When he was finished, Jared climbed the tree outside Jensen’s window to hopefully slip inside and have a look round whilst Jensen was sleeping. See if he couldn’t find out what was making Jensen so anxious. 

When Jared got to the window, however, the sight before him made him freeze in shock. 

Jensen was sprawled out on his back with his shirt rucked up and his hands above his head. The boy was practically writhing on the bed; his face was flushed and a thin layer of sweat was glistening off his pale skin. Jared was rock hard in an instant; Jensen looked like he’d just stepped out of every fantasy Jared had ever had and the vampire couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. 

Jared fingers curled around the window ledge, tight enough to splinter the wood. As much as he wanted to rip open the window, join his boyfriend on the bed and show Jensen that he could be so much better than any dream he might be having, he restrained himself. Jared knew that if he got in there, there would be no way that he’d be able to stop himself making Jensen his in every way. And they weren’t ready for that… _Jensen_ wasn’t ready for that. 

A low, throaty moan had Jared opening his tightly shut eyes, he couldn’t help it. But instead of arousal slamming into him again, Jared’s stomach flipped over in fear as he watched Jensen’s boxers being drawn down by invisible hands. His eyes narrowed and, this time, Jared did wrench open the window; his arousal suitably tempered by concern (and maybe a hint of jealousy…maybe), he was intent on finding out what the Hell was going on. 

The movement clearly startled the other creature in the room and, a moment later, the form of a man flickered above Jensen and came into view. It hissed at Jared, and brought sharp its claws up to his Slayer’s throat, the threat clear. Jared remained where he was, his eyes fixed on the being before him as the other man’s hand continued to work Jensen’s boxers down his legs. 

Jared gritted his teeth as the man moved to grasp his boyfriend’s hard dick, where it jutted up from his body, and began to pump it slowly. Jensen gasped and thrust his cock into the beast’s claw, trapped in whatever fantasy the creature was creating. The demon turned red eyes on Jared, then, as it continued to fondle Jensen, and a smile curled it red lips, revealing white, sharp teeth. Incubus.

Jared scowled, knowing that he couldn’t do anything more, not when the creature had its talons so close to Jensen’s vulnerable neck; one swipe and Jensen blood would be painting the pristine white carpet.

Eventually, the demon sped up its strokes and bit down on Jensen’s chest. Jensen let out a choked gasp and came all over the creature’s hand and his own stomach, panting hard. The creature looked at Jared and licked its hand clean, slowly, smirking at the growl that came from Jared. The next moment the beast was gone, leaving the room and Jensen a  dishevelled mess. 

Jared stared into the room but didn’t enter; he didn’t want Jensen to catch him in his room right then, not when Jensen was so vulnerable; the kid would be beyond mortified. At least that explained why Jensen hadn’t been able to look him in the eye, over the last couple of days, and why the Slayer looked like he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a century. 

Jensen was fine though, as far as Jared could see. He’d be a little more tired, a little more drained, in the morning but he was still alive and that gave Jared some time. 

He slipped away into the night; he had a very special stake to find.  No-one touched his Slayer and got away with it; no-one.

 


	38. Chapter Thirty-Eight.

  
 

** Chapter Thirty-Eight.  **

** Jensen. **

Jensen didn’t see Jared over the next few days and he could only think that that was a good thing. Where he had felt exhausted before, Jensen was starting to feel physically sick now, an ache deep in his gut and a fog clouding his mind. Jim and his friends all kept sending him anxious looks but he still couldn’t work up the courage to tell them about the dreams, they were just dreams after all.

‘Jensen!’ Jensen’s eyes sprang open immediately; the image of Jared fading but still imprinted on his retinas, as he blinked against the light of the room. 

‘Sorry, sorry.’ He mumbled to Jim, rubbing his eyes, trying to wake himself up enough to get back into their conversation on…what were they talking about again?

‘Jensen, what on earth is the matter, you’ve been like this for days? Are you sick?’ _Probably,_ he thought as he considered the frequency and vividness of his sex dreams about Jared; that was another reason not to tell his Watcher, it just wasn’t normal.

‘No, no, I’m fine. Really.’ The way that Jensen swayed slightly on his chair belied the statement but he righted himself almost immediately, hoping that it escaped Jim’s notice. Jim’s eyes narrowed, though, so he assumed not. ‘Look, can we cut this short? I’ve got to pick Mack up from school today.’ The statement wasn’t even remotely true; Jensen just wanted to get out patrolling. 

Jensen had been leaving training earlier and earlier over the last few days to get out patrolling so, hopefully, he could knock off a little sooner, at the end of the evening, without feeling so guilty that he was doing a half-assed job. 

He just needed to get home, to at least _try_ to sleep and not dream about Jared. Not that the dreams weren’t amazing, they were, and if it weren’t for the bone aching tiredness and the guilt and humiliation he felt every time he thought of his boyfriend, Jensen was pretty sure he’d welcome the no holds barred, surround sound fantasies. 

Jim nodded and Jensen hopped down from the desk, landing clumsily on the ground. _Jesus, smooth Jensen, real smooth._ ‘See you tomorrow Jim.’ He called over his shoulder as he walked quickly out of the library. 

****

Jared was lying over Jensen again, his weight pressing him down into the mattress; not oppressive, more possessive, and that very thought sent a thrill down Jensen’s spine. His lover nipped down his bared throat and latched onto his nipple, sucking it into his mouth, as his large hands smoothed down Jensen’s sides. Jensen couldn’t help bucking up when the man bit down on the vulnerable skin. 

Jared placed a long index finger against Jensen’s full lips and pushed gently. Jensen opened his mouth instantly, drawing the digit in and stroking it with his tongue. He moaned around the finger when Jared slid another in beside it, sucking and licking on them like he would Jared’s cock if the man would let him. Jared chuckled when Jensen whined as he removed his fingers, missing the slightly salty taste of Jared on his tongue.

Jensen felt the wet fingers slide down his skin and passed his cock till they slipped up the crack of his ass and pushed against his hole. Jensen tensed; they hadn’t done this before, hadn’t even talked about it. Of course Jensen had thought about it; sometimes he’d been unable to think of anything else whilst they lay on Jared’s couch, touching and kissing, long into the night. But thinking about and actually _doing_ it were very different things and he kind of felt that this was something they should talk about first. 

‘Jared?’ He rasped out, his voice rough with need and arousal.

‘Shhh!’ Jared whispered and kissed him again, his free hand stroking down Jensen’s left side, in a calming motion, whilst his slick fingers stroked against Jensen’s hole. It _was_ calming and Jensen kissed the vampire back, relaxing against the sheets, of course Jared knew what he was doing; he had a couple of centuries of relationship experience over Jensen. 

Jensen’s breath hitched when he felt the tip of Jared’s finger enter his ass but then it was gone. And so was the weight of Jared’s body and feel of the man’s breath against his face. Jensen heard a growl and a high pitched yell and sat up immediately, in his bed, forgetting that he was completely naked. He grabbed the vial of holy water, that he kept under his bed, and the knife that he had stowed under his pillow. 

Jared was standing in front of him, fully dressed, in a pair black leather pants and a tight black t-shirt. He was driving a long stake into the back of a red eyed demon. What the Hell? Why was there a demon in Jensen’s room and why hadn’t it attacked him? The beast howled again and Jensen looked towards the door, there was no way that his mom hadn’t heard that.

‘Jared’ He hissed. ‘Get it out of here.’ Jared nodded curtly, not looking at Jensen, and dragged the beast over to the window. It was still struggling but it looked like its strength was waning; whatever Jared had stuck it with was clearly doing its job but not freaking fast enough in Jensen’s opinion. 

Jared jumped out of the window, not sparing Jensen a word or even a glance, taking the demon with him. Jensen was a little insulted and confused as to why his boyfriend refused to so much as look at him until the draft from the open window breezed over his body and he shivered. 

Looking down, Jensen  realised that he was completely naked and hard. He flushed bright red. Jensen dragged his covers back onto his bed, just in time for his mom to burst through his door with a baseball bat held high above her head. Mack followed close behind her, a tennis racket in hand. It would have been comical had Jensen not seen the looks of terror on their faces. 

‘Jensen? Honey, are you alright?’ His mother asked, not moving passed the threshold, as her sharp eyes scanned the room looking for intruders.

‘Y…Yeah, I’m fine mom. Sorry, I woke you guys up, bad dream I guess.’ He lied, blushing a little harder at the fact that he’d woken his mom and sister up.

‘You sure?’ She asked skeptically, still holding the baseball bat aloft.

‘Yeah, sorry, you guys can go back to bed.’ Finally his mom lowered the bat and Mack turned round and went back to her room, muttering something about ‘ _idiot brothers’_ and _‘freaking scaredy cats.’_ His mom, though, came into the room and sat down on his bed; Jensen just thanked God that he had pulled the covers all the way up his body because…awkward.

She stroked a hand through his sweaty hair, ‘You have a lot of bad dreams, sweetie.’ It wasn’t a question; he’d used the nightmare excuse before when an unwanted visitor had come into his room. Plus there had been countless times when Jensen had actually woken up screaming or crying from one of his terrible dreams. God only knew what his mom must think. When he looked up at her though, she just looked sad, ‘You don’t talk to me anymore, Jen, not like you used to.’ _No, he didn’t, he couldn’t._ ‘You know there’s nothing you could say that will shock me or make me judge you, right?’ _Wanna bet?_

‘I’m fine really, blame Misha for making me watch horror movies on Friday Night Movie Night.’ He smiled weakly, trying to lighten the oppressive atmosphere in the room. Donna didn’t smile, they both knew that nightmares had haunted Jensen long before he’d met Misha and had nothing at all to do with horror movies. His mom just didn’t know exactly _what_ was causing her son’s dreams. And she never would, not if Jensen could help it.

‘Okay, honey.’ She said, a sad smile now gracing her pretty features, ‘Just know that I’m still here okay, whenever you need me.’ Jensen nodded and smiled, keeping the tears at bay; he’d give anything to just be able to crawl into his mom’s bed sometimes and have her hold him while he cried.

‘Thanks mom.’ She stood up and left the room. 

Jensen breathed out and moved to get out of his bed but he quickly grabbed the covers again when he heard a deep voice in the silence of the room. 

‘Jensen.’

‘Jared!’ He most certainly did not squeak. At all.

‘Are you alright?’ Jared asked, not moving from where he was couched on the window ledge. Jensen couldn’t see Jared’s face in the poor light; the man’s body was angled away from the moonlight shining through the window. 

‘Uh…yeah, I’m…I’m fine.’ He answered, unsure of what Jared had seen or heard, or how long the other man had been in the room with the demon. The demon? ‘Um…what was that and why…

‘ _That_ , Jensen, was an incubus.’ 

‘An incu…Oh.’ Jensen felt his cheeks flare again, everything from the last couple of weeks suddenly making sense. There was no word for the level of embarrassment he was feeling right then; he could only pray that Jared wouldn’t tell anyone about this, it was bad enough Jared knowing about it.

‘Yes, oh. Why didn’t you tell me about the dreams, Jensen?’ Jared’s voice had taken on an accusatory tone that made Jensen feel even worse. 

_Oh God! This just keeps getting worse, now he expects me to_ talk _about it?!_ ‘Um…what dreams?’ Jensen shifted in the bed, hiding his hard on under the covers. Jared cocked eyebrow at him and Jensen knew that he was caught, ‘Oh…those dreams.’ He added quietly, his fingers fiddling with the hem of his duvet and his eyes studiously avoiding his boyfriend’s.

‘Yes. Why didn’t you tell me?’ Jared asked again, obviously he wasn’t going to just let it go. 

‘I…I…it was…just…’ And what did Jared expect him to say? He and Jared had never even _talked_ about sex, not really. Jensen didn’t even know if Jared wanted that with him, maybe he didn’t want a skittish virgin in his bed, Jensen didn’t know.

Jared moved quickly across the room, settling down on Jensen’s bed, and reaching forward to brush away the sweaty hair from Jensen’s forehead. ‘I’m your boyfriend Jensen; you’re supposed to be able to tell me anything?’

‘I was…was embarrassed alright. And I didn’t know if…if you wanted _that_ and that…that just made me feel guilty for even thinking about it and…’

Jared barked out a laugh and Jensen felt the tears spring to his eyes. He brought his knees up to his chest under the covers, wrapping his arms around them and dropping his head down, hoping to hide his red face and his tear-filled eyes. Jensen _knew_ that Jared would laugh at him; it was just too pathetic and desperate and now he was going to cry about it. He couldn’t help it though; too many sleepless nights added to whatever the demon had been taking from him had made Jensen an emotional wreck and he felt his breath hitch.

‘Jensen, baby.’ Jensen felt Jared’s large hands on his arms, unfolding them from his knees. ‘Come on, look at me.’ Jensen shook his head, keeping his face pressed against his knees. ‘I wasn’t laughing at you, baby. I was laughing at the fact that you’re still not sure how I feel about you, I mean, how could you not be sure?’ Jensen raised his head slightly at that, looking the man in the eyes. ‘Jen, three quarters of the time I have to actively try _not_ to think about just pushing you up against a wall or down onto the couch and taking you. You have no idea what you do to me.’ Jared said as he slid forwards on the bed, wiping the tears off Jensen’s cheeks with his thumbs. 

‘But you have to tell me stuff like this, Jen. I only found out because you were acting so strangely, what would have happened if I hadn’t, huh? If you weren’t talking to me, then I can damn well bet you weren’t talking to your friends or Jim either. And incubi are strong, Jen, he would’ve taken everything from you until there was nothing left.’ There was pain in Jared’s voice now. ‘Promise me, you won’t keep anything like that from me again, promise me.’

Jensen nodded, ‘Promise.’ Jared pulled Jensen into his chest, mindful to keep the sheets around the younger man’s body as he wrapped his arms around him.

‘And, baby, you never have to be embarrassed by anything like that.’ He murmured into the Jensen’s ear. ‘You should see some of the dreams I have about you and, trust me, yours have nothing on mine.’ He kissed Jensen’s temple, gently rocking his body.

Before Jensen could even work up his embarrassment at that statement or a clever comeback, he felt his eyes start to close. ‘Sleep, baby, it’s gone now. It’s just me here, and I’ll stay with you the whole night.’ Jensen nodded, and fell asleep safe in his boyfriend’s arms.

****

** Misha.  **

The three of them were sitting in the library while Jensen trained with Jim, just like they always did after school. Misha had a large book of demon lore open in front of him and he was reading up about incubi and succubi; it was pretty damn interesting actually and he was just reading on how to kill them when Jensen slammed the book closed. 

‘Oh my God! Did Jared _tell_ you?’ Jensen asked, his eyes frantic and his face flushed. Misha was more than a little confused, he and Jared didn’t really talk, like, at all. It wasn’t a secret that he didn’t like the vampire and that the vampire certainly didn’t like him back.

‘Um, I…’

‘That _jerk!_ He promised he wouldn’t say anything. Look, if I’d known it was an incubus I would have dealt with it myself, but…but I just thought they were dreams, okay. It wasn’t my fault; it was really, _really_ real and I was…was so freaking tired at the time, exhausted really, and I just…just didn’t realise.’ Jensen paced in front of them, wringing his hands. 

Piece by piece the puzzle came together in Misha’s mind and he almost came in his pants at the picture they formed. Jensen was attacked by an incubus, which meant that… ‘OH MY GOD!’ Misha shouted at him, ‘You were attacked by an incubus, did it…?’ His eyes widened as his brain latched onto a memory from a couple of weeks ago, ‘That day in class, you were totally having a…a sex dream, I _knew_ it. Jesus Christ, Jensen.’ Misha slumped back in his seat, fanning himself with his hand, quite sure he was about to pass out. 

‘You….you didn’t…Jared didn’t tell you?’ Jensen stuttered out, the red deepening on his horrified face, as he took in the three gaping students and his shocked Watcher, sitting in the room. ‘Oh my God!’ Jensen turned and ran out of the library. 

‘Am I dreaming or did that _just_ happen? Was Jensen really the victim of a sex demon because I’m really not sure that I can handle that image; I might just self-combust or something.’ Misha half-whispered, watching the door that the Slayer had just run out of. 

Danni snorted, ‘Yeah it happened. And stop being such a perv, Misha, the poor guy’s probably dying of embarrassment right now.’

‘Embarrassment?! Jesus, it’s freaking hot as Hell Danni, what the on earth has he got to be embarrassed about?’ Misha asked, his sight still fixed on the door, like he could make Jensen appear, maybe sans clothes, if he stared hard enough. 

‘Because, dumbass, he was just outed to his friends that he was targeted by a sex demon and pretty much admitted to having a deeply erotic fantasy about Jared right next to you in class. That, my friend, would qualify as embarrassing.’

Misha’s eyes narrowed, finally turning to Danneel. ‘We don’t know it was about the vampire. Jensen could have been dreaming about anyone.’ He grumbled. He scowled when Chris coughed to try and cover up his snigger. 

‘Meesh, buddy, I’m pretty sure he was dreaming about Jared. Sorry, man.’ Chris said, trying to hide his smirk.

‘Yeah whatever.’ Misha replied sullenly. No-one _knew_ who Jensen had been dreaming about and if Misha wanted to leave Jared out of the whole scenario when he filed the incident away in his spank bank (also now known as his ‘Jensen bank’) then that was nobody’s business but his own.

 


	39. Chapter Thirty-Nine.

** Chapter Thirty-Nine. **

** Jensen. **

Jim and Misha were sitting across from Jensen, at the library table, heatedly debating the pros and cons of using Wolfsbane against werewolves. _Again_. Jensen’s brain had pretty much checked out of the conversation after the first minute because, seriously, there were only so many times that he could listen to that argument. 

Letting his mind wander, something on the desk in Jim’s office caught Jensen’s eye. He stood up and walked over to it; it was a strange-looking gold coin with the symbol of an eye etched into the metal. Jensen was sure that he hadn’t seen it before; he would have totally remembered it since, for once, the markings didn’t depict scenes of torment and terror that were so often displayed on the things that Jim owned. 

Jensen reached out to pick it up before the Slayer side of his brain kicked in and told him that he was being an idiot; he jolted bolt upright as soon as his skin touched the metal.

_A pretty girl driving a car, brushing a hand through her hair, her watch glinting in the sunlight…_

FLASH _._

_A blonde girl laughing in the seat, by her side, playing with the car radio…_

FLASH.

_Two men in the back seat; one blonde, one with red hair..._

FLASH.

_A lorry passing a motorway sign…_

FLASH.

_A lorry driver dropping his coffee in his lap, cursing..._

FLASH.

_The lorry hitting the car full on…_

FLASH.

_Fire, death, blood, bodies..._

‘JENSEN!’ Jensen fell back against Jim, trembling, he felt like he’d just been electrocuted. What the hell had that been? ‘Jensen, are you alright?’

Jensen nodded his head shakily; despite the unease clawing at his insides and the vivid memory of burning flesh seared into his eyes and nose, he felt alright. In one piece, at least. ‘Wh…What was that?’ He asked, his voice shaking as much as his body. 

‘ _That_ was a vision, Jensen.’ Jim answered. The man’s voice was tight and controlled; Jensen could tell that his Watcher was angry with him but was reining it in since Jensen was clearly affected by what had just happened. Jensen was sure that he’d get shit for it later though. Oh joy. Jensen only hoped that Jim wouldn’t tell Jared about it. Wait? A _vision_? 

‘A vision?’ Jensen asked, shocked and more than a little confused. Jensen wasn’t a seer; he wasn’t supposed to be able to tap into the future.

‘Yes, a vision, a prophecy, a portent of the future. Whatever you’d like to call it.’ The man sighed, gently dropping Jensen into a chair and picking up the coin, in his _gloved_ hand. ‘Remember that conversation that we must have had, oh I don’t know, about a hundred times, Jensen? The one involving you not touching anything in my office if you don’t know what it is? I thought you would have learned after what happened to Misha.’

Jensen blushed and nodded, he didn’t know what he’d been thinking. He’d been around enough cursed objects over the last few years that, even without Jim’s constant warnings and Misha’s possession, Jensen should have known not to touch the damn thing. It had just been so pretty compared to all the other crap that Jim usually got in, and he’d been _really_ bored. And that combination never led to anything good when it came to Jensen. ‘I’m sorry, Jim.’ He mumbled.

Jim deflated and smiled slightly, laying a hand on Jensen’s shoulder and squeezing gently, ‘It’s alright Jensen, just next time _please_ try and resist the temptation; we were lucky this time that this artefact doesn’t have any detrimental effects on the person who handles it.’

Speaking of which…‘So that was a vision? Am I meant to stop it?’ Jensen asked, trying to recall all the things that he’d seen; there hadn’t been much but, as he closed his eyes and focused on each of the images, he managed to pick up a few more details in the frames - the watch on the girl’s wrist had said 12.04pm, the radio had flashed the date - 8/1/2012, the lorry had just passed Exit 4 on Route 9. That should be enough for Jensen to do something about this. 

‘I don’t know, Jensen, you weren’t _meant_ to have that vision. I have no idea what’ll happen if you try and stop it.’ Jim replied, eyeing the coin wearily; they both knew how dangerous it was to mess with the past and the future. 

‘But I can’t just let it happen, not now that I know about it.’ Jensen argued.

Jim smiled at him, a little indulgently, ‘No, I don’t suppose _you_ can.’ There was a dig there, Jensen was sure of it, but he wasn’t entirely clear on what it was. 

‘Whatever. I know the Walmart lorry’s Route and I know what the driver looks like; I’m pretty sure that, with a little fancy talking, we can find out where he’s starting his run from. The lorry causes the accident so if I take it out of the equation, surely, I can save the other people in the accident?’ 

Jim nodded, ‘I assume that I’m spending the rest of the day on the phone pretending to be an FBI agent again then?’ Jensen grinned, his Watcher was so awesome.

****

Jim had somehow managed to find out the depot, where the lorry was starting out from, so he and Jared were waiting at the truck stop for the guy. They had two plans of action; Jensen would approach the guy first, rattle off some excuse to try and get the guy to take the day off. If that didn’t work, then they had a back-up plan which involved Jared putting the guy into a sleeper hold and having him sleep the day off in one of the storage units. Jared hadn’t been keen on them having two plans; he felt that they should just jump to option two and be done with it but Jensen sort of liked not knocking out civilians unless they really had to. 

The truck driver, Barry Gait, came out of one of the offices, a coffee cup in his hand; the mere sight of the polystyrene cup was enough to have Jensen walking quickly over to the man.

‘Hey, excuse me, Mr. Gait?’ Barry paused and turned round with a scowl on his face. _Oh great, this looked like it was gonna be easy._ Jensen filtered through the excuses he’d prepared on the drive over and, taking in the gold glinting on the man’s left hand, went with the one he thought would work best. ‘It’s your wife, sir, she’s sick. She’s in the St. John’s hospital.’ Jensen explained, pasting his most sincere and caring expression on his face. 

The man’s scowl deepened, ‘Well those doctors are going to have to be really good if they’re going to make my wife better, kid, considering she’s been dead for five years.’ Jensen winced internally. Shit. Not only did it look like the guy wanted to punch him for what seemed like a really distasteful joke, but Jensen also felt guilty for using the guy’s dead wife against him like that. But Jensen didn’t have time to play nice so he tried again, grasping at straws.

‘I meant your daughter; it’s your daughter who’s in the hospital.’

‘I don’t have a daughter. Just a son and I’m pretty sure my six foot four body-builder kid, _Robert_ , couldn’t be mistaken for a girl.’ Double shit. Of all the dumb luck; Jensen had had a 50/50 chance there and he had to go and choose the wrong one. ‘I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing here, boy, but I’m not in the mood and if you don’t get the fuck out of my way I’m gonna have t…’

Jared was there in an instant, his muscled arm wrapped around the man’s neck. Barry struggled for a moment before going limp in the vampire’s arms. Jensen glared at his boyfriend, ‘What the heck did you do that for?’

‘Well you weren’t exactly getting anywhere fast, Jen.’ Jared smirked, and began to drag the guy backwards in the direction of one of the empty offices. 

‘I…I would totally have thought of something.’ Jensen shot back, defensively.

‘Sure you would have. Gonna tell him his cat was in the hospital next?’ Jared grinned as Jensen’s scowl deepened and, no, he _hadn’t_ been about to say that his cat had been hurt…he was gonna say dog but whatever. 

‘Whatever. Let’s just get him comfortable and hope that he doesn’t remember my face when he comes to.’ Jensen grabbed the guy’s ankles and helped Jared manoeuvre the man into the office and lock the door. Barry wouldn’t wake up for another couple of hours so he wouldn’t be able to make it the junction by the time of the accident. Therefore, Jensen’s vision shouldn’t be able to happen. Just as they locked the door, Jensen turned to look up at Jared, ‘Wow, this whole changing the future thing’s much easier than I thought it would be, I don’t know what Dr. Who’s complaining about.’

Jensen really should’ve known that nothing in his life was ever that easy. 

 


	40. Chapter Forty.

  
** Where There’s Life, There’s Hope. **

 

** Chapter Forty. **

** Jensen. **

Jensen stared at the front of the newspaper, dread uncurling in his gut as he read the headline. 

‘GIRL KILLED IN FREAK MICROWAVE ACCIDENT.’

It was her.  The girl in the photograph, smiling up at him, was the same girl that Jensen had seen driving that car a few days ago.  Jensen had saved her from a fiery death on Route 9, only to have her die a couple of days later when her microwave inexplicably exploded, shooting her body so full of glass that she’d slumped down dead right there on her kitchen floor.  And what was even stranger - when the police got there, apparently, there had been nothing in the microwave so they didn’t even think the thing had been on.  

Jensen jumped when Jim appeared at his shoulder, ‘Have you found something in the paper Jensen?  Our kind of something?’  He asked, looking down at the newspaper. 

‘I don’t know.’  Jensen replied, distractedly, ‘It’s just…this girl, she was one of the girls in my vision last week.’

‘Really?’  Jim asked, clearly as surprised as Jensen to see that the girl was now dead, despite Jensen’s effort to keep the girl alive. 

‘Yeah.  It’s weird right?  I know it could be nothing but that’s one hell of a coincidence, don’t you think?  She’s meant to die in a huge motor accident, she doesn’t, then she dies in a freak, horrific accident in her home and no-one can even explain how it happened.  I’ve been doing this job for too damn long to believe in coincidence.’  Jensen said, his hand tapping nervously on the newspaper laid out on the table.  

He didn’t like the fact that this girl had died; he’d _saved_ her, it was meant to be finished.  If people were unlucky enough to be touched by evil in their lives, they were only meant to be touched once, and Jensen had already saved this one.  It just wasn’t fair. 

‘I have to say that I tend to agree with you on that one; maybe you and Jared should go over and have a look at her house.  See if you can get any readings on a spirit or malevolent presence in her home; maybe that’s what this whole thing was about in the first place.  Perhaps the spirit was planning to cause the accident on the freeway and when you stopped that from happening, it came for her in a different way?’

‘Hmm.  Maybe.’  Jensen said, still looking at the photo.  It seemed a little extreme, even for a poltergeist, to set up a huge accident just to get its one victim.  Why wouldn’t it have just made the microwave explode last week rather than organising that whole accident that would have killed another four people as well?  Still, angry spirits weren’t always the most logical beings and Jensen had seen them to some pretty crazy things in the past.  ‘Yeah, I’ll get Jay to come with me tonight, do some EMF scans of the place.’

****

It was strange being in Cathy Morrison’s home knowing that she would never be there again.  There was police tape across the doorway to the kitchen and there was still blood and glass on the floor.  The sight sent a chill down Jensen’s spine that he sure didn’t have anything to do with any presence that might be in the girl’s house.  

Usually, when Jensen had to investigate a person’s death, he didn’t know the victim which always made it a little easier to see the place where they’d died.  But here, while he didn’t know Cathy, he _had_ seen her, relaxed and happy in his vision not three days before she’d actually died.  That brought the tragedy of her death home to him, causing a painful twinge in his chest as he took in the bloody scene. 

Jensen drew out his battered EMF reader; Jared always teased him about it, and Jim had told him that he’d get him a new one, but Jensen had been adamant about keeping it.  He’d had the thing since he’d started Slaying; Sterling had given it to him and Jensen liked having the old thing around.   

Jensen waved the small black box over the fragments on the floor and up the sides of the cabinets and work surfaces.  Nothing.  Not even a flicker.  Finally he moved the device over the demolished microwave; if a spirit had caused the explosion then the EMF reader would pick up some electromagnetic readings from what was left.  But, as he waved it over the shattered front of the machine, the reader stayed stubbornly silent.  That was pretty conclusive on no spirit involvement.  

Jensen swept the house with the EMF reader just to make sure, checking drawers and cupboard as he went, to see if the girl had anything in her house indicating that she was somehow connected to the supernatural in any way.  But again, they came up with nothing. 

Maybe Cathy’s death really had been some weird sort of random accident and she was just really, _really_ unlucky.  

That conclusion just didn’t sit right with Jensen, though, and, for once, Jensen was kind of pissed off that he was proven right.

****

Jensen sat looking at the front page of another newspaper two days later, frozen in shock. 

There, gracing the front page was the blonde girl he’d seen in his vision, smiling at him from under the headline. 

‘HORROR AS GIRL IS CRUSHED BY OWN CAR.’

Jensen had already read the article three times, even though the outcome hadn’t changed the more times he’d read it.  The girl was still dead.  Julie Winters’ car had rolled back over her body, crushing her, and leaving nothing more than a bloody smear and a pile of gore on the girl’s driveway.  Again, the reporter had commented on the strangeness of the ‘accident’; the car had somehow managed to roll itself _uphill_ , over Julie, with the hand-break still on.  It definitely sounded like a spirit at work, but both he and Jim had agreed that it couldn’t have been since there had been no indications of any kind of presence back at Cathy’s apartment.  

‘Jim.’  Jensen called.  His Watcher came out of his office, carrying the antique colt that he was cleaning.  ‘It happened again.’  He turned the article round so that his Watcher could read the headline.  ‘This girl,’ he pointed to the photo, ‘she was in the car too.  If this is some kind of spirit then it targeted both these girls.’  

Jim looked puzzled as he peered down at the photograph, ‘But you said you didn’t find anything at the first girl’s house?’

‘I know, but I can’t think of what else it might be.  I mean, both of these accidents, they were pretty weird and I’d bet my life that they weren’t accidents.’  Jensen insisted; it was just too much of a coincidence that the two girls had died within a day of each other, so soon after they’d both been destined to die in the first place. 

‘Okay, I think you might be right.  Do you think the other people in the car are going to be harmed as well or do you think it ended with the girls?’  Jim asked, laying the gun down on the table to take a closer look at the article.

Jensen shrugged, ‘Who knows?  But I think I’m gonna keep an eye on them just the same.’

‘Jensen, you don’t even know who these boys are?’  Jim replied, incredulous. 

‘I don’t _yet_.  But if they were friends of this girl, which is likely since they were in that car with her, then they’re going be at her funeral tomorrow.  All I’ve got to do is follow them home, keep an eye on them for the next day or so and make sure that nothing happens to them.  This thing looks like it’s working on a tight schedule so if nothing happens to these guys tomorrow or the day after then I’m hoping that we’re home free.  

‘I’ll take one and I’ll get Jay to keep an eye on the other guy, make sure nothing happens to him either.’  Jensen sighed when he looked up at his Watcher’s face, ‘Don’t look at me like that, don’t you think I feel bad enough about this already?  I know it’s a skeevy move to use this girl’s funeral but I’m pretty sure that she’d forgive me if she knew I was only doing it to save one of her friends.’  He justified; it wasn’t like he hadn’t used funerals and wakes to get information before, sometimes it was just necessary.  That didn’t mean he liked doing it though.  

‘Alright, Jensen.  But, for God’s sake, make sure you wear a suit.  No jeans and a t-shirt for this one.’  Jim added sternly, glancing down at Jensen’s clothes. 

Jensen looked at Jim, askance, ‘Jesus, what kind of guy do you think I am?  Of course I’m going to wear a freaking suit.  I have been doing this for a while, Jim.’   

Jim appeared suitably sheepish at that, ‘Right, sorry.  Be careful, you have no idea if this thing will attack at the funeral or wait to get these kids alone, so watch your back.’

Jensen smiled grimly, ‘I always do, Jim, I always do.’

****

Jensen stripped off his suit, hidden behind a line of bushes in the guy’s garden, and changed into the jeans and t-shirt that he’d brought.  He had a long night ahead of him and there was no way that he was spending it dressed in that suit.  Plus, it was the only one he had and the thing had cost him an arm and a leg; he wasn’t about to ruin it by sitting in the mud for hours. 

Jensen watched his charge, Tom Williams, move about his kitchen, making himself a cup of coffee.  The funeral had been just as bad as Jensen had expected it to be; most of the people attending had been friends of both of the girls and the combined grief had been nearly stifling.  Jensen had felt awful for intruding on their mourning but he’d had a job to do and he damn well wasn’t letting anyone else die on his watch.  Not when he’d already done his job as far as he was concerned - this one was personal.

He’d sent Jared off after George Weymouth, the other boy in the car, with instructions to call Jensen if anything came up.  Jensen had promised to do the same if he ran into anything Supernatural at Tom’s.  So far there hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary; just a sad boy trying to make it through a difficult day. 

Jensen sat down on the grass, pulling out his social studies textbook to start research on one of his essays.  It wasn’t like Jensen had an awful lot of extra time to do his assignments and Jim was always so adamant that Jensen maintain a good GPA.  Personally, Jensen thought it was all a waste of time, it wasn’t like he was allowed to go to college anyway; but it was easier just to comply, as much as he could, and do what Jim asked. 

Two hours later, a shout had Jensen bounding over the hedge before his dropped textbook had even hit the ground.  He burst through the kitchen door and stopped dead when he saw Tom frantically pulling at his tie where it was jammed in the waste-disposal of his sink.  A cloaked figure stood next to the guy, its hand pressed down firmly on the man’s back, pushing him towards the sink.

Jensen dashed across the room, snatching up a knife from the counter on the way, and slashing through the tie just below the knot.  Tom fell backwards onto the floor, gasping and pulling the remaining material from around his neck and throwing it across the room. 

Now that his charge was alright, just about, Jensen turned to the cloaked figure, the knife raised in front of him.  The being looked more substantial than a spirit and seemed to radiate more power than a poltergeist would normally possess.   Jensen could almost _feel_ its energy filling the room; he’d never felt anything like it, ‘What are you?’  Jensen asked. 

‘I am the end.’  The being intoned. 

Jensen rolled his eyes, as if he hadn’t heard that one a million times before.  ‘Sure you are.  I meant what _kind_ of creature are you?’

The rasping, gurgling sound that Jensen heard in response could have been a very, _very_ distant cousin of a chuckle but Jensen really wasn’t sure, ‘Silly boy.  I _am_ the End.  I am the last face seen before a soul is sent on.’

No. Fucking. Way.  ‘You… _you’re_ the Grim Reaper?  As in _The_ Grim Reaper?’  Jensen asked, a little in awe, even if he wouldn’t admit that to anyone but himself.  Well, that would explain the immense power that Jensen was feeling then. 

‘I have many names, but yes, that is what I am called by some.  Simply, I am Death.’  Jensen gasped when all the lights suddenly flashed and went out.  He instinctively moved closer to where the boy was still sat on the floor, putting his body between Tom and his adversary.  Jensen didn’t care who this guy was, he wasn’t getting that kid’s soul, not today.

‘Why are you here?’  Jensen asked; this seemed all a little trivial for Death himself to come and actually orchestrate some random college kids’ deaths.

‘Because you manipulated fate, you changed the design, and I am here to restore the balance.’

‘No.  I _saved_ them.  They don’t have to die because that accident didn’t happen.’  Jensen insisted, ignoring the heavy weight settling in his gut.  

‘You are wrong.  They still have to die; they were meant to die at 12.04pm on 8th January 2012 but you altered their timelines and now they each have a new destiny.  One that lies with me.’  Death answered, his tone low and sure.      

‘Well if you want him then you’re going to have to go through me.’  Jensen said defiantly, firmly his stance and raising the knife again.  It was futile, Jensen knew that he couldn’t actually beat Death, but he also couldn’t just stand by and let it take the shaking guy on the floor behind him. 

‘Jensen Ackles, it is not your time.’  The being moved towards the boy but Jensen stood in its way.   The creature laughed again, ‘So be it, boy, I will not take him now but I _will_ return for his soul and you cannot be with him every moment for the rest of his short life.’

In a swirl of smoke, Death was gone and the lights came back on, illuminating the shivering kid in the corner of the kitchen.  ‘Hey, buddy, are you okay?’  _Stupid question, Jensen, of course he’s not okay._

‘I…was that…oh my God…’  And the guy promptly passed out.  Jensen couldn’t blame him, he wasn’t faring all that well himself.  He had absolutely no clue what he was going to do about this one, all he did know was that Death wasn’t getting Tom, George or Barry any time soon.  Fate could kiss his ass.  
  
  



	41. Chapter Forty-One.

 

** Chapter Forty-One. **

  
** Jensen. **

They all stood back whilst Jensen finished the summoning spell, all silently watching as he murmured the words under his breath and set the ingredients alight; this was not a spell he wanted to mess up. It might have been a stupid plan but it was all that Jensen could come up with; he had no idea where or when Death might reappear so he’d decided to make the bastard come to them. 

Despite his fear, Jensen couldn’t deny the little jolt of satisfaction that he felt when he imagined the look on the Reaper’s face (if it had a face) when it realised that it had been brought to Earth by a _mortal_ like Jensen. 

Once Jensen had finished the incantation, he opened his eyes and looked around the room. Everything looked the same. Jensen grabbed the spell-book, which was lying open by his side, and scanned down the page detailing the spell. Maybe he’d done something wrong?

‘You summoned me, Slayer.’ The voice was quiet but somehow it permeated the whole room and sent a chill down his spine. Looking at the faces of the others, he could tell that they’d felt it too. It was filled with menace, and dread slowly crept over Jensen’s skin like tar.

Jensen got up from his kneeling position to stand before the figure that had appeared out of the shadows. In the better light of the library, Jensen could see the creature better. The Reaper wore a long dark robe which hung past its hands and feet but the hood of the cloak was thrown back. The only visible flesh was on its face, and although there was flesh on the bones, somehow it seemed like Jensen could actually see the bone beneath. Like the skin was just a façade for something darker, a mask for hiding what the being really was. The eyes looked human but were without an iris, merely white balls with deep dark pupils in the centre; it was like looking into a blackhole - all despair and nothingness. 

‘I did.’ Jensen answered with more confidence than he felt. ‘I need you to stop taking these people.’ Jensen said, trying to sound commanding, which was understandably difficult considering that he was talking to one of the most powerful Supernatural beings on the planet. To have power over live and death, to be able to give and take it so easily, was no parlour trick and Jensen knew that; he had to walk a fine line between respect and confidence and he wasn’t sure that he was going to be able to pull it off. 

‘And why would I do that Slayer? You ruined their fates and now I am merely re-setting the natural order.’ The Reaper reasoned, its voice still calm and cold.

‘Because it’s not right, and it’s not fair.’ Jensen shot back angrily. This wasn’t how his job was supposed to work.

‘Death is neither fair nor unfair, Slayer, it just is. And there is nothing that you can do to stop it.’

‘No that’s not true, I save people who are meant to die every day, it’s what I do.’ Jensen argued back. He, himself, had defied that rule too many times to count in his life as the Slayer. And this time would be no different. Jensen had cheated Death, he’d beat it at its own game, and he got to keep those souls here now that he had. ‘No.’ He said simply.

‘No?’ The other man questioned, a slight smile pulling at its mangled face. 

‘Not this time.’ Jensen cocked his head to one side; he hadn’t really intended to use this idea unless it was absolutely necessary. But it clearly was. ‘You like games right? Chess? How about we _play_ for those souls? One game. I win; those souls get a new fate, and get to stay on Earth till the end of their very long lives.’

The Reaper look intrigued, its rotten smile widening, ‘And if I win, what are you willing to give me Slayer?’

‘If you win, you get to claim their souls.’ He took a deep breath, he knew that he’d need to sweeten the deal since, at the moment, there was nothing stopping Death from just taking those souls anyway, ‘And you get mine as well.’

Jensen heard the growl behind him but focused on the creature before him. Jensen heart was beating a painfully fast tattoo in his chest; he’d played a little chess when he was as a kid; he hadn’t been particularly good but at least he knew how the game worked. And he hoped that his enhanced skills of strategizing would give him an edge to maybe, just maybe, win this one game. What other option did he have? He didn’t have another bargaining chip to offer Death. 

‘That is an interesting offer, Slayer. I was not expecting to claim your soul so soon. Of course, I have nearly had you several times but you have always managed to wriggle away.’ It chuckled, the sound dark and cruel, and Jensen shivered again. 

‘Wait!’ Jensen turned around sharply at the shout. 

‘Misha, shut the Hell up.’ Jensen hissed; he really didn’t want Death’s focus on anyone in the room but him.

‘No way, you can’t play chess for shit Jensen.’ Misha pushed passed him to stand in front of the cloaked figure. ‘You can play me, I’ll be much more of a challenge than Jensen and my soul is way more valuable than his. You’re going to be getting Jensen’s pretty soon anyway, what with him being the Slayer and all, whereas I plan to live a long, _long_ life.’ _Ouch_. Jensen could do nothing but stare in disbelief as his best friend offered up his soul, what the heck was happening? Did Misha even know what he was saying?

Finally, after a long minute, Jensen found his voice again. ‘No. No fucking way. Don’t listen to a word he just said, he’s not part of this.’ Jensen said, pointing an index finger at the Reaper, before turning back to Misha and shoving him away, ‘Get the Hell back before I make you.’ Jensen warned, his green eyes blazing. 

‘It is an intriguing offer, and this boy is right, your time on this earth is somewhat limited whereas his will undoubtedly be longer.’ Death turned to look at Misha; _Oh hell no!_ Jensen stood in front of his best friend, blocking Death’s path.

‘I _said_ no.’ Jensen stated through gritted teeth, his previous nerves gone leaving cool determination in their wake. ‘ _I_ came here to deal with you. _Me_. And only me. It’s my life on the line or there’s no deal.’ Jensen felt bad about the other people’s lives on the line, if Death turned him down, but Misha was more important than them. And it had been their time, no matter how much Jensen wanted to rally against it, but it wasn’t Misha’s. Not for a long while yet.

‘Silence Slayer. I will deal with whom I wish.’ Jensen went to argue again but found when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. ‘That’s better.’ Death remarked, turning back to Misha.

Jensen gripped his throat in panic, trying to push Misha more fully behind his body and away from Death. A moment later, he found himself flung across the room, into the wall, for his troubles. He blacked out, for a second, but managed to climb back to his feet just in time to see Misha shake Death’s hand before the large, black cloaked man disappeared in a huge cloud of smoke. 

_No!_

Jensen got up and rushed over to Misha, finding that he suddenly had his voice back. ‘What did you do? What the fuck did you do?!’ He asked frantically, grabbing at Misha’s biceps and gripping them hard. 

‘What I had to.’ Misha said simply. 

‘No. No this wasn’t how this was supposed to go.’ Jensen looked up at his friends, and noticed their guilty expressions. ‘You _planned_ this?’

‘Yes. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you Jensen but you didn’t tell us that you were planning on offering your life up either.’ Misha responded calmly but there was a hint of accusation in his voice, ‘But we figured that that was what you were going to do; self-sacrifice is kind of your thing.’ He smiled fondly at Jensen. ‘And since I kick ass at chess we decided that I’d make the deal instead.’

Misha explained it all so calmly, as though the plan wasn’t completely insane. Jensen paced the library floor, wringing his hands, trying to think of a way out of this mess, ‘You don’t get it! It’s my _job_ to do shit like this, it’s not yours.’ He rubbed his shaking hand across the back of his neck. ‘This is fucking why I should never have let myself have friends; I just get them into trouble. _Christ_ , I shouldn’t even have let Death anywhere near you guys. So fucking stupid.’ _Stupid, stupid, stupid._

‘You’re right, I know that I didn’t _have_ to do anything, but I wanted to; I wanted to help you. And this was the best way that I could do that.’ Misha looked so fucking sincere and it broke Jensen’s heart – this was all his fault.

‘ _God_ , you _do_ help me, Misha. _All_ the fucking time; you just being here, helping me deal with all this crap, not to mention all the research you guys do. Jesus, you shouldn’t have done this.’ The fight drained right out of Jensen and he slumped down in one of the chairs, his head in his hands.

‘Yeah I should.’ Misha smiled down at him and brushed a hand through his hair.

_What had Jensen just let happen?_

 


	42. Chapter Forty-Two.

**  Chapter Forty-Two. **

  
** Jensen. **

 

‘Did you know, Jared? Did you know what he had planned?’ Jensen asked that night whilst they were out patrolling. The other targets were with Jim and his Watcher would call if anything strange happened; Jensen was pretty confident that they were safe for now at least, until the ridiculous chess game was played the following night anyway.

 

Jared looked away from him and Jensen had his answer. _Bastard_. Jared knew how much his friends meant to him. How could the vampire not tell him? ‘Yes, I knew.’

 

‘Then why the fuck didn’t you tell me? Jesus, Misha could _die_!’ He shouted at his boyfriend, how could Jared not understand how not alright this all was?

 

‘Yeah and so could you’ve.’ Jared glared back at him. ‘Or doesn’t that matter because you think that _your_ life is worth so much less than everyone else’s.’ It was Jensen’s turn to look away that time. ‘I fucking knew it, you need to stop playing so fast and loose with your life Jensen; you may not value it but the rest of us fucking do.’

 

The vehemence in Jared’s voice made Jensen feel a little guilty about all the risks he took as the Slayer. But that just reminded him that it wasn’t his life on the line this time, it was Misha’s, and he let his mounting guilt be shoved down by the anger still burning in his gut. ‘But it’s my job! It’s not Misha’s. Christ, before he met me the worst thing he had to worry about was a couple of asshole bullies and failing a damn test. Now he might _die_ and, you heard Death, it would be way before his time. This is all my fault for even _being_ here, filling those guys’ heads with ideas of duty and saving people; I’ve led Misha right to the beast.’ Jensen finished quietly, that was the worst of it; he was sure that it was his influence, and all the dark things that he’d introduced his friends to, that had sparked this need inside Misha to save those strangers. And there it was; his guilt flared right back up with a vengeance.

 

‘Yeah and maybe this was who Misha was meant to be. Maybe you were just the catalyst, making him into a better person than he would have been without your influence.’ Jared said, resting a hand on Jensen’s shoulder.

 

Jensen shook off his boyfriend’s hand, he didn’t want comforting right then. He didn’t fucking deserve it. ‘Yeah, well being a better person won’t help him if he’s dead.’ Jensen replied in a dull voice and walked away from Jared, not turning to look back. 

 

****

 

Jensen had tried summoning Death again, on his own this time, but no matter how many times he recited the incantation or how many different spells he cast, some more dangerous than he should have been dealing with, the Reaper never appeared. It pissed Jensen off that he’d been arrogant to think that he’d _made_ Death come to them before, like he’d had some control over the being; clearly Death had come of its own volition and now Jensen was shut out.

 

Jensen banged his fist on the table in frustration; he didn’t know what to do. The chess game was set to start a few hours’ time and, for once, it wasn’t his head on the chopping block and it looked like there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to change that. 

 

****

 

Jensen arrived at the library at 7 o’clock, half frantic, half angry. Jared look over at him warily; Jensen hadn’t spoken to him since he’d found out about Jared’s cognisance of Misha’s plan despite the man’s many calls and texts. 

 

Misha sat at the library table, a chess set in front of him, as he stared intensely at the wooden pieces. Jensen could almost see the other boy mapping out strategies in his mind, getting ready for the upcoming game. He sat down next to his friend, and placed a hand on his arm. Misha started slightly before turning a bright, if a little nervous, smile on Jensen. 

 

Jensen’s heart ached to see it, what if Misha lost? Jensen hadn’t been able to find _anything_ that would stop Death taking Misha’s soul if it beat him in the game and he’d also never heard of an instance where Death had actually been beaten. It wasn’t looking good.

 

‘Hey, Meesh, you realise you don’t have to do this right? I’ll…I’ll do something, I can find a way to get you out of this, I _know_ I can.’ Jensen begged.

 

‘Maybe, but Jen I don’t want you to.’ 

 

‘ _Why?_ I don’t understand why you’re doing this?’ Jensen whispered, dangerously close to tears. 

 

Misha smiled sadly, ‘I know you don’t, Jen, but just let me do it okay.’

 

****

 

** Jared. **

 

Jared watched his Slayer try to convince Misha to back down, to let Jensen take his place. Jared didn’t like the way the boy looked at Jensen, he knew how Misha felt about his boyfriend, but he couldn’t help the respect he felt for the boy at that moment. Misha was risking his life to keep Jensen from harm. And Jared could relate to the need to do that all too well; he would have offered up his own soul, had it not been so tarnished, to save Jensen’s. He and Misha might never be friends but they agreed on one important concept; Jensen’s life was worth more than anything.

 

****

 

** Jensen. **

 

Jensen couldn’t watch; he sat next to Jared in the corner of the stacks, a bottle of holy water, a silver cross, and a stake hidden behind his back, ready to take on Death if it tried to seize his friend at the end of the game. His breathing was erratic and ragged, with his frayed nerves, but he shied away when Jared tried to put his arm around his waist; he was still mad at the vampire for not telling him about this. And, honestly, it felt easier to have someone else to blame so he wasn’t completely overwhelmed by his own guilt. It might be mostly Jensen’s fault that they were in this mess but Jared certainly hadn’t helped and if…if Misha…didn’t make it, then, Jensen wasn’t sure that he’d ever be able to forgive the vampire, no matter how much he loved him. 

 

Just as the tension was becoming unbearable, two long hours after Death had arrived bringing the scent of rotting flesh wafting through their sanctuary of books, a shout burst out. 

 

‘Yeah. Take that!’ Misha jumped up, sending his chair skittering back and onto the floor. ‘Check fucking Mate.’

 

Jensen blinked, unsure and unable to process what he was seeing. Misha was doing a little dance and, unfortunately, Jensen was all too familiar with Misha’s ‘victory dance.’ Usually, Jensen would’ve bury his head in his hands, trying to hide his embarrassment at his friend’s antics, but right then, it was the most beautiful sight that Jensen had ever seen. ‘Cause it could mean only one thing. Misha had _won_. He’d _freaking_ won. Misha had beaten Death and earned the right to keep his soul. 

 

The huge weight, that had been bearing down on Jensen, suddenly lifted and he ran over to the table and grabbed Misha into a tight hug, holding on to him for dear life.

 

When he let go, Death was still scowling at the board, at his fallen King. 

 

Jensen turned to the Reaper, his eyes cold, ‘Go now. And remember, Tom Williams, George Weymouth and Barry Gait get to lead long lives now. Misha saved _their_ souls, as well as his own, that was the deal.’

 

Death looked up at him, a cruel smile on its face, ‘No matter. There are still plenty of souls to reap whilst I wait. I will see _you_ soon Slayer.’ And then the figure was gone, sending a cold chill around the room, or maybe it was just the parting promise that sent a shiver down Jensen’s spine, he couldn’t be sure. 

 

Fighting off his own unease, Jensen turned back to Misha and punched him in the shoulder, a little harder than necessary, ‘You ever do anything like that again and I’ll kick your ass, alright.’ He pulled the guy into another hug, reassuring himself that this wasn’t all a dream and that he really wasn’t losing his best friend.

 

Misha settled his hands low on Jensen’s spine and hugged him back. ‘It was worth it.’ And Jensen could almost understand that, _almost_ ; he knew how good it felt to save someone’s life, it made it feel like you mattered, like you were doing your small part to help the world.

 

‘Okay, but try to keep the heroics to a minimum in future, trust me, those people are no way near as important to me as you are, okay.’ Jensen said as he pulled away and he meant it; as bad as it made him feel, he had barely spared a thought for the other souls in the deal as soon as Misha’s soul was added to the list.

 

‘Okay, Jen.’ Misha smiled back and, if it was a little sad, then Jensen was sure that it was just because it was hitting Misha how close he had come to death. 

 

****

** Jared. **

 

Jared watched as the blue-eyed boy embraced Jensen, watched as his face fell at the knowledge that Jensen clearly thought that Misha had bargained his life for those innocents and not for the Slayer. Everyone else in the room knew why Misha had really entered that deal except the one man who should’ve the known, the one who deserved to know.

 

Again, that familiar feeling of guilt hit Jared, hard. What was he doing? Why was he taking Jensen away from this? Wouldn’t his Slayer be so much better off with someone like Misha? As much as it would pain Jared to give up the person he loved to someone else, Misha would be the better, the _safer_ , option. There was no doubt that the boy loved Jensen and would do anything for him, he’d just proved that; how was that any different from Jared’s own devotion? 

 

And, with Misha, there was no chance that one day the boy might be unable to fight his blood lust and drain the Slayer dry; there was no chance that he might slip one day and hurt Jensen. Misha could give Jensen the light when all Jared could offer him was darkness. 

 

But Jared was a selfish being; he always had been, long before he became a creature of the night. As he watched Jensen from the stacks, his head thrown back laughing, a beautiful angel sent to earth to save them all, Jared knew that he couldn’t give him up now. Not until Jensen told him to go.

 

And on that day, Jared would happily greet a stake.

 

[NEXT. ](http://saltandburnboys.livejournal.com/28630.html)

 


	43. Chapter Forty-Three.

** Chapter Forty-Three. **

** Jensen. **

It was Jensen’s birthday, he was finally eighteen, and he didn’t think he’d ever been more excited about a birthday. He wasn’t a huge fan of birthdays in general; he hadn’t been since he found out that he wasn’t supposed to live past twenty five, after that they always just seemed like a countdown to his last days. But now, _now,_ he had something to look forward to. 

Jared had been adamant that they weren’t doing anything that involved removing their pants until Jensen was at least eighteen. Jensen was sure that the man didn’t expect Jensen to leap on him as soon as his birthday rolled around but that was actually kind of what Jensen was planning to do. He wanted this with Jared; he wanted Jared to be his first, his only.

Jensen walked into school, his bag slung loosely over his shoulder and a smug smile playing on his lips as he thought about the plans he’d made for after school. 

‘Hey, happy Birthday.’ Before he could be surprised that she knew that it was his birthday, Danneel gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He blushed slightly, no matter how many times she did that, he still got a little embarrassed.

‘Thanks Danni.’ She pressed a wrapped gift into his hands, ‘Oh, you didn’t have to do this.’ He said, taken aback; he hadn’t expected anything from his friends, hell, he didn’t even know how they knew that it was his birthday in the first place. Jim probably, the traitor.

‘Of course I did, you idiot. It’s from me _and_ Chris.’ Jensen tore the blue paper open to reveal a photo album, ‘It’s an album of all of us, even Jared and Jim when I could sneak up and get pictures of them. I thought you’d like it.’ She flashed a shy smile at him; it was one of the few times that Jensen had actually seen the girl anything less than completely confident.

Jensen pulled her into a tight hug, tears springing to his eyes, none of his friends from before had ever gotten him anything so thoughtful, ‘It’s amazing, thanks.’ Chris came up next to him and clapped him on the shoulder.

‘Happy birthday, man. I know Danni said that that was from both of us, but I think we all know that I had fuck all to do with it besides looking good for some of the shots. _This_ is from me, and let it not be said that I don’t put any thought into my gifts.’ He smirked as he pushed the bottle of lube into Jensen’s hand, ‘It’s cherry favoured, I thought that was appropriate.’ He winked at Jensen.

‘Chris!’ Danni giggled, ‘I didn’t know he was getting you that, Jen, I swear. God, why do I put up with you?’ She asked, turning to her boyfriend and putting her arms around his neck. 

‘Because I’m an awesomely sexy musician with a winning personality and Hollywood good looks.’ He grinned, ‘Plus I’ve got a car.’

‘Oh yeah, that’s it, definitely the car thing.’ She leaned in and gave him a languid kiss. Jensen knew that everyone said that high school romances didn’t last but he was pretty sure that this one was gonna be the exception and he couldn’t be happier for them.

Jensen laughed, shoving Chris in the shoulder. 

‘What?’ Chris grinned back, holding his hands up. 

Misha walked up to them, taking in the scene of laughing teens, ‘What’s up?’

‘Nothing but some really inappropriate gift giving from Chris.’ Jensen answered, holding up the tube of lube. 

Misha choked a little then stared at his friend. ‘Christ, you didn’t actually give him lube did you? I thought you were kidding!’ 

‘You all sound surprised. Would’ve thought you guys had learnt by now.’ Jensen nodded, that was probably fair; they seriously should have been used to Chris’ special brand of humour by then.

‘Anyway, leaving _that_ disgustingness to one side. Happy birthday, Jen.’ Misha said, handing over a small package. Jensen pulled off the paper to reveal an I-pod. He gaped, completely stunned.

‘Meesh, I can’t…I can’t accept this, it’s way too much.’ He pushed the small box back into Misha’s hands. That was too expensive, even from one of his best friends. He felt guilty now for complaining about how a vampire had trashed his last one on patrol; he _certainly_ hadn’t been angling for a replacement from one of his friends. 

Misha snorted and pushed it back, ‘Yeah you can, plus I already put a shit load of songs on it so the shop isn’t going to take it back now anyway.’ He beamed, ‘Plus this is totally for my benefit; your taste in music is God awful, now I get to re-educate you.’ 

Jensen pulled his friend into a hug, ‘Thanks Misha,’ he had such great friends; he really didn’t know what he’d done to deserve them. 

****

Jensen opened the door to Jared’s apartment, using his key, and dropped his overnight bag next to the door. He hadn’t told Jared that he was coming over early; they’d planned to meet up later at the graveyard. But Jensen had his own plans for that night and he was sure that Jared hadn’t thought of them. Swallowing, he stripped off his clothes, folding them neatly on one of Jared’s chairs, and tried to calm his thundering heartbeat.

Jensen walked across the apartment to Jared’s bed and climbed in behind the older man. Jensen wrapped an arm around Jared and waited for the other man to realise that he was there; he knew that it wouldn’t take too long. 

It didn’t.

Jared turned round, blinking his sleepy eyes open, ‘Jen?’ He scrubbed a hand down his face and then his eyes widened, ‘Jensen, are you _naked_ under there?’

Jensen flushed and buried his face in Jared’s shoulder. It had seemed like such a good idea when he’d been planning it last night and now he felt stupid. He couldn’t even get out of the bed, fetch his clothes and run out of the apartment without flashing his bare ass at Jared and that would just make the whole thing so much worse. ‘Jen, baby, what are you doing?’ Jared asked softly, stroking a finger down Jensen’s red cheek. 

‘I…I wanted tonight to be special, I’m eighteen, I…I wanted it to be tonight.’ Jensen mumbled into Jared’s neck.

‘You wanted…?’ Jared started and Jensen could hear the confusion in the older man’s voice, ‘Oh.’

_Oh god, this was so embarrassing._

‘Jen, I’m not sure you’re ready for that.’ Jared continued, now stroking his thumb over the skin at the back of Jensen’s neck.

Jensen drew back to look Jared in the eye; he might as well just go for it, he didn’t think that this could get any worse so he might as well just lay all his cards on the table. ‘I am. I really am, I’ve been thinking about this for months. I want this. I…I want you to…I want you to fuck me.’ He said, biting his bottom lip and looking at the pillow over Jared’s right shoulder. 

Jensen immediately found himself on his back with Jared looming over him. ‘You’re sure?’ Jared nipped Jensen’s bottom lip.

‘Yes. Yes, I’m sure.’ Yeah, he was nervous as Hell but Jensen was sure that this was what he wanted. He wanted Jared like he’d never wanted anyone before.

‘Okay.’ Jared swooped down and kissed him, letting his hands trail down Jensen’s naked sides. Jensen shivered at the touch, blushing again at the thought that he was completely naked in Jared’s bed.

Jared ripped off his black sleep shirt, revealing miles of muscled flesh. Jensen brought his hands up and ran them over the Jared’s chest, still awed by the sight even though he’d seen it dozens of times. Jared smirked and rolled off the bed, much to Jensen’s dismay. Jared leaned back over and kissed Jensen quickly on the lips, ‘Don’t worry baby, I’ll take care of you, but I need to get my pants off first.’ Jared pushed the sweats down his legs and stood in all his glory in front of Jensen.

If Jensen hadn’t already been blindingly hard from Jared touching him, that would have done it. As it was, he had to breathe deeply to keep from coming all over himself before they even got started. Jared grinned evilly and climbed back onto the bed, holding himself up on one arm over Jensen. He brought his other hand down and stroked Jensen’s face, ‘I love you.’ He said and it sent Jensen’s heart soaring; the man could not be more perfect. 

‘I love you too.’ Jensen whispered and stretched up to kiss Jared and bring him back down so that their bodies came together. Jensen gasped as Jared’s hard cock rubbed against his own; it felt incredible to finally be getting this.

It felt even better when Jensen felt a large hand close around him and stoke and twist just the way he liked. ‘Jared…’ He panted out, not really sure what he was asking for but sure that the older man would know what he needed. Jared did. He pumped Jensen faster and, as much as Jensen tried to hold it off, he couldn’t and he came all over Jared’s hand and his own stomach. 

Wow, that was fast – he couldn’t help it, he’d been thinking about this for months and, now it was actually happening, he just couldn’t control himself. Jared didn’t seem to mind, though, as he swooped down to steal another kiss. 

‘God, so fucking beautiful.’ Jensen smiled lazily back; he felt more relaxed than he had in years. He sucked in a sharp breath when he felt slick fingers slide between his ass cheeks.

‘Shhh, it’s okay, it’s just me, Jen.’ Jared kissed him again, deep and unhurried, as he stroked over Jensen’s hole. Jensen nodded and immediately felt one of Jared’s long fingers slide into him; it felt full and slightly uncomfortable but not as painful as he had thought it would. Jared didn’t move his finger, just kept staring down at Jensen intently until Jensen nodded again.

Jared moved his finger out of Jensen’s ass before pushing it back in. He did it over and over until Jensen could feel the tight ring of muscle relaxing around the intrusion. After a little while, he was relaxed enough for Jared to add a second finger and do the same. When Jared added a third finger, the pain was a little more acute, the burn a little more intense, and Jensen bit his lip hard to distract himself from the pain in his ass.

‘It’s okay, it’ll get better I promise.’ Jared continued to pump his fingers slowly in and out of Jensen’s ass and suddenly Jensen’s world exploded and his hips shot off the bed.

‘What? What was that?’ He gasped out.

‘That, baby, was exactly what I was looking for.’ Jared winked back, pushing his fingers back into Jensen’s ass and driving into that same spot. A shiver of pleasure ran through Jensen as Jared’s fingers found that place again. His breathing picked up and he could feel his cock hardening from the constant pressure against that magic spot.

Eventually, Jared removed his fingers and Jensen whined; he felt empty without Jared in there. Jared chuckled and grabbed something from the drawer. Jensen heard the crinkle of foil and immediately shot his hand out to catch Jared’s arm, ‘No, we don’t need that.’ He said, ‘I’m a vi…I’ve never done this before and you’re a vampire so no diseases there so I…I don’t want one, I wanna feel you.’ He blushed again but his dick twitched at the idea of there being nothing between them when Jared was inside him. 

A sly smile grew on Jared’s face, and he pushed Jensen back down onto the bed, kissing him into submission. ‘God, you are so amazing.’ 

Before Jensen could say anything sappy and terribly embarrassing like ‘Not as amazing as you,’ he felt something blunt push against his ass; he’d known that Jared’s cock would be bigger than his fingers but knowing it and feeling it were two very different things.

‘Relax, baby.’ Jensen breathed out, trying to relax as much as possible. It hurt when the head of Jared’s cock breached his ass, but the pain was mixed with pleasure as Jared brought his hand down to stroke Jensen’s wilting cock back to hardness. Jared pushed forwards, opening Jensen up, little by little, waiting every time it got too much for the younger man.

Once Jared was buried completely inside, Jensen let out a deep breath, trying to breathe through the burn. Jared stayed completely still until the burn subsided and Jensen gave him the signal to move. 

Jared pulled out and thrust back in, sending Jensen up the bed and shocking a gasp from him. After a few thrusts, Jensen felt that place inside him explode again and he cried out, grabbing onto Jared’s shoulders above him, ‘You like that baby?’ Jared smirked down at him, not slowing his thrusts into that special spot. 

Jensen couldn’t answer; all he could do was hold on for dear life as Jared pounded into him, setting him alight from the inside out. He’d never felt anything like it; he felt complete, whole, for the first time in his life. He’d never felt closer to another human being than he did to Jared right then. 

Jensen could feel his orgasm swirling deep in his stomach and he knew that he wasn’t going to last long, not with the expression of bliss on Jared’s face, his manly grunts above him and the constant assault on that place. 

‘Jared…Jared…’ He panted out, trying to tell his boyfriend that he was going to come.

‘Do it. Come on, Jen, come for me.’ Jared whispered in his ear and that was it, it was all over. Jensen was coming again, clenching down on Jared’s cock, his head thrown back in a silent scream. 

When he finally got his breathing under control, Jensen realised that Jared had come too and was lying on top of him. Jensen could feel Jared still inside him and the slide of Jared’s come in his ass; he thought it should probably have felt disgusting but all Jensen felt was _owned_. And to be owned by Jared was the best feeling in the entire world. 

Jared pulled back, resting on one arm again, his face glistening with sweat. ‘You okay, baby?’ He asked swiping at Jensen’s own sweaty hair. 

‘Awesome.’ Jensen said, his voice raspy and raw. Jared grinned and pulled out. It hurt but it hurt more knowing that Jared was no longer connected to him. 

Jared rolled Jensen onto his side and spooned up behind him. ‘Happy Birthday, Jensen.’

‘Jared…’ Jensen asked, feeling sleep pulling at him. ‘Um, could we…maybe…do that again…I mean…later tonight?’ He blushed at having to ask but he _really_ wanted to do that again…and it was his birthday after all.

‘Oh baby, we are _definitely_ doing that again tonight…and again and again.’ Jared pulled Jensen back against his chest, placing a kiss at the juncture between the younger man’s neck and shoulder. ‘Now sleep for a bit, we’ve got all night.’

‘Okay.’ Jensen yawned and succumbed to sleep. 

 


	44. Chapter Forty-Four.

** Chapter Forty-Four. **

** Jensen. **

Jensen walked slowly into school the next day, he’d had the best night of his life at Jared’s but he was more than a little sore this morning. He figured that it was a pretty reasonable price to pay for the incredible night they’d had.

He heard Danneel’s shout before he saw her, ‘Hey Jen.’ He moved over to his friends, trying to walk more like a person and less like a duck. ‘Why are you…oh my GOD!’ The girl all but yelled at him, her mouth dropping open in shock. 

All three guys jumped at the shrill noise. ‘Oh my God, did you and Jared…?’ Jensen eyes widened and he flushed scarlet, ‘You _totally_ did. Was it amazing? I bet it was amazing.’

Jensen wanted to feel embarrassed that his friends knew about how he’d spent his birthday but he just couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. He bit his lip and nodded. That was all he was saying though; Danni might want all the saucy details but there was no way that he was going to be talking about last night, not with anyone. 

‘Oh _come on_ , Jen, you’ve gotta give us more than that.’ Jensen moved to open his locker, ignoring her as she rounded on him from the other side, ‘You can’t keep this all to yourself; you and Jared together, _God_ , that’s got to be the hottest thing ever.’ Jensen smirked but kept his eyes fixed on the locker; that was another reason why he wasn’t going to be sharing any of the details; last night had been about him and Jared alone and that was the way it was going to stay. ‘You totally suck, Jensen.’

‘I bet he did,’ Chris leered next to Danneel, giving Jensen a pat on the back, ‘Congrats dude, say goodbye to your virginity and hello to wake-up blowjobs.’ Danneel whacked her boyfriend on the arm, but Jensen wasn’t sure whether she was annoyed at him for being so crass about their relationship or pissed off that Chris wasn’t doing more to get Jensen to tell them about what happened. 

The locker slammed next to Jensen and he startled, banging his elbow against the door of his own locker. He turned to see a dark look shadowing Misha’s face, something had obviously happened, ‘What’s the matter, Misha, are you okay?’ He asked, concerned. 

‘Yeah, I’m fine. See you guys later.’ Misha said shortly, walking off down the hall despite the fact that both he and Jensen had Spanish and they always walked there together. 

‘Is he…?’

‘Don’t worry about it, Jen. He’s just pissed that he’s still a virgin, that’s all.’ Chris said with a grin but Jensen didn’t really feel that the words rang true and Danni’s worried glance, in Misha’s direction, didn’t help dispel Jensen’s worries either. 

‘Seriously, Danni, I think…’

She turned back to him and smiled, ‘Really Jen. Misha’s fine, he’s just got some stuff to work through on his own. Don’t let it ruin today for you, okay.’ She winked. ‘You only get one first time, Jensen; you’re gonna remember last night for the rest of your life.’

Jensen beamed, he didn’t doubt that at all; he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be able to think about anything else all day. Jensen turned and went to make his way to Spanish only to find Chris catch his arm and whisper in his ear, ‘And if you don’t want the whole school to know that you got lucky last night, you might wanna try walking like someone didn’t shove a baseball bat up your ass last night.’

Chris laughed and walked off with Danneel on his arm, leaving a red faced Jensen behind, adjusting his trousers self-consciously. 

****

After his last class, Jensen walked into the library to find Misha sitting at the oak desk; he still looked a little unhappy but he smiled at Jensen when the Slayer took the seat next to him. ‘Hey, Jen, sorry that I was a bit of an ass earlier.’

‘No problem, everything all right with you?’ Jensen asked. 

‘Yeah, I’m good.’ Misha claimed but his eyes told Jensen the real story and he wished that his friend would trust him to help. But everyone kept secrets and Jensen wasn’t about to push Misha into telling him his; Misha knew that Jensen was there for him, if he needed it, and that would have to be enough. 

Jensen reached across the table and pulled over one of the books, absently flicking through the pages, while he waited for Jim to come out and tell him what they were doing that night.

A few moments later, an arm slid around his torso and Jensen breathed in the deep scent of Jared. The older man kissed him on the top of the head and took the seat next to him. ‘Jay? What are you doing here?’

He blushed when Danni and Chris entered the library, shooting Jensen identical dirty grins. Jared brushed his thumbs over Jensen’s pink cheeks, ‘I didn’t get to give you your present last night.’

‘Think you did Jared.’ Chris smirked from behind them. ‘Ow.’ Signalled the slap that he got from his girlfriend. 

Jared just grinned, ignoring Chris’ comment completely, ‘So I thought I’d come by and give it to you today.’ At that, Jensen’s mind helpfully supplied all the things that he’d like Jared to give him but none of them were things that he wanted his friends witnessing. He fidgeted a little in the chair as his cock started to take notice of Jared’s proximity and the images flashing through his mind. Jared smirked at him, clearly reading Jensen’s body language perfectly, and placed a heavy brown envelope in front of him on the table. ‘And since this kind of involves everyone here, I thought it was fitting to give it to you now.’

Frowning, Jensen picked up the envelope and tore it open. He pulled out a white sheet of paper, looking down at it in surprise. ‘What the…? What is this?’ He whispered, looking up at Jared for some kind of explanation because his own mind was drawing a blank.

‘It’s an acceptance letter to Stanford. You’re gonna start there in the Fall.’ Jared replied, taking Jensen’s free hand in his. 

‘But…But…I didn’t even apply. I can’t _go_ to college.’ He said, placing the sheet back down on the table. It was heart-breaking to hold the acceptance in his hand and know that there was nothing that he could do with it. Jared gave his hand a firm squeeze. 

‘You can and you will, Jensen.’ Jim said as he exited his office. 

‘Jim helped me out; I’m not all that up on how this college application thing works but we hacked into the school database and found a couple of your old essays and sent them off with an application. You’ve got a full scholarship so your mom won’t have to worry about paying the fees. You want this right, Jensen?’ Jared asked, looking a little worried for the first time since he’d gotten there.

Jensen couldn’t take it all in, but he nodded mutedly, and Jared’s smile returned in full force. After a few minutes of staring at the letter, Jensen glanced over at his Watcher, ‘But Jim, what about…all this?’ It was the one question he’d been dreading to ask, the one question that could dash all this apart.

‘Well, they needed a new librarian at Stanford and I just happened to know a guy who was more than happy to take the job.’ Jim grinned. ‘And we chose Stanford because there’s a Devil’s Gate right in the centre of town so believe me, Alto Palo sees its fair share of monsters.’ Jensen laughed nervously, shaking his head, was this really happening? 

He looked up when Danni, Chris and Misha all put someone in front of him on the table. Letting his gaze drop down again, he saw three acceptance letters to Stanford. ‘Guys? You guys are going to Stanford too? But Misha, you got into Harvard right, why would you come to Stanford?’ Harvard was the best school in the country and, yeah, Stanford was no slouch but Harvard was better.

Misha just shrugged, ‘We told you when we started all this that we were in this together and that we weren’t gonna leave you to fight this on your own. And we’re not going to.’

‘Plus Palo Alto has some awesome beaches, I’m gonna work on my tan.’ Danni winked.

‘Guys, this is…this is amazing.’ Jensen just about managed to get out around the lump in his throat. He’d been trying not to think about his friends heading off to different parts of the country, and leaving him behind, but it had been at the back of his mind all the same. But now it didn’t look like that was going to happen anymore.

But what about…

‘And I’ve bought a flat just off campus for you and me if you want it?’ Jared said into his ear, soft enough just for Jensen to hear.

‘Jared…I…’ He bit his lip, for a moment, then climbed into the taller man’s lap, throwing his arms around his boyfriend’s neck. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much, you have no idea what this means to me.’

Jared stroked a hand through his hair, ‘I think I do, baby. And hey, you didn’t think you were gonna get rid of me that easily did you?’ Jensen huffed a wet laugh against Jared neck. ‘No, now that I’ve got you, I’m never letting you go.’

As happy tears made their way down Jensen’s cheeks, Jensen suddenly realised that his future was looking a lot brighter than it ever had before. 

 


	45. Chapter Forty-Five.

** Chapter Forty-Five. **

** Jensen. **

‘No.’

‘But Jensen, it’s Prom, you _have_ to go to Prom.’ Danni said, a slight whine creeping into her voice. 

‘I don’t. And I certainly don’t have to go to Prom dateless.’

Danni gave him an incredulous look, ‘You wouldn’t _be_ dateless Jen, you could bring Jared.’

Jensen snorted. ‘I’m not asking Jared to Prom, Danni.’ As if Jensen needed to give Jared any more reminders that Jensen was only just eighteen; he wasn’t about to embarrass himself by asking his much, _much_ older boyfriend to go to something so high school as Prom.. Even if a small part of him, a very small part obviously, might just have wanted to go. Maybe. Just a little.

‘Why the Hell not? He’d looked fucking hot in a tux’.

While that was very true, Jared would look awesome in a tux, there was just no way that Jensen was going to risk Jared saying ‘no’ or, worse, laughing in his face. No, Prom was something that normal kids got to do with their normal boyfriends and girlfriends; not really Jensen’s thing.

‘You could come with me?’ Misha said quietly from the table behind them.

‘What?’ Jensen asked, because he was sure that must have heard his friend wrong.

‘You could come with me, you know, be my date?’ Misha shrugged, but didn’t lift his eyes from the book that he was reading. 

‘Meesh, I think you can find someone better than me to take to Prom. Don’t worry about me, I’m totally fine not going.’ Jensen answered, and hoped that no-one else heard the tension in his voice. ‘Speaking of which, Julie Niven was totally checking you out in gym class the other day, I’m sure she’d go with you if you asked.’

‘Yeah, well, maybe she’s not the one I want to go with Jensen.’ Misha looked up at him then, his face serious, and his blue eyes boring into Jensen. 

‘Oh, okay. Um…I’m sure whoever you do want to take will say ‘yes’, Misha.’ He said shifting uncomfortably under Misha’s intense stare; it was a little unnerving sometimes to have that gaze aimed at him.

Misha choked out a harsh laugh and it sounded so bitter that it made Jensen’s heart hurt just to hear it; he wondered how he’d managed to make his friend so upset. ‘Don’t bet on it.’

‘Look, Misha, I’m sorry if I sa…’

‘There’s something weird in the boy’s locker room.’ They all whirled round at Chris’ abrupt entrance to the library.

‘Excuse me?’ Jensen said, looking up at his friend. The statement hadn’t said an awful lot; there were a lot of weird things in the boys’ locker room at Sunnydale High but Jensen didn’t really think that a strange collection of jockstraps stuck to the ceiling (God only knew how they got up there or _stayed_ up there for that matter) or the constant, pervading smell of sweaty teenage boy could be classified as one of his kind of problems. 

‘There’s something _freaky_ in the guy’s locker room. Oh well that made everything _so_ much clearer. ‘We were all getting changed after practise and Davis was lifted up in the air, like literally off the ground, and thrown up against the wall in the showers. The only good thing about it was that Jake damn near wet himself and ran out of the changing room screaming like a little girl.’ He flashed a wicked grin at them, ‘It was awesome.’

‘Oh my god, did you get pictures?’ Misha asked hopefully. 

‘Come on guys, I think you’re both missing the point of Chris’s story.’ Jensen prompted, even though a screaming Jake _was_ pretty awesome. 

‘No I didn’t, Misha, but half the squad saw him so the school’s gonna be talking about this for weeks. Don’t worry, Jake won’t forget this one in a hurry.’ Misha smiled brightly at that, his earlier dull mood forgotten, and Chris turned back to Jensen, ‘So that’s your kind of gig, right?’ Chris was a little less involved with the Slayer side of Jensen’s life; he was sort of like Jensen when it came to research and Jensen tried to keep the guys out of hunts. So most of the time when Chris was in the library with them, he was just there to hang out, and didn’t really pay attention to any Supernatural goings on.

‘Yeah, that definitely sounds like something Supernatural. What do you think, Jim? Spirit?’ Jensen asked, that sounded like classic ghost behaviour.

‘If I had to guess then I’d say yes. ’ That was enough for Jensen so he nodded, grabbed his bag, which had his EMF reader inside, and made his way out of the library.

‘Jensen?’ Jensen turned and caught the canister of salt that Jim threw at him, ‘Be careful.’

‘Thanks Jim.’

****

Jensen walked into the locker room, it was completely empty; the story had probably circulated around the school by then so Jensen wasn’t all that worried about anyone coming in while he was investigating. He walked over to the showers, slipped out his EMF reader and waved it over the wall; the thing went crazy, lights flashing and sending a shrill noise echoing through the showers. ‘Spirit then.’ Jensen muttered to himself. 

That confirmed, Jensen turned to leave when he felt a cold wave wash over his body. His breaths turned opaque in the slowly dropping temperature of the locker room and when Jensen looked over at the mirrors, lined up over the sinks, the edges were beginning to frost over. Jensen fingered the salt canister in his pocket, waiting to see if the spirit would manifest itself; it would make his job of finding out who the spirit was a Hell of a lot easier if it did.

Instead, Jensen was startled when a low thrum of music fill the room; ‘Blue Velvet’ played hauntingly off the walls. Yeah, that wasn’t creepy, at all. Jensen’s head whipped back to the mirrors and he saw words begin to appear in the frosted glass. The air in the room felt oppressive and there was such a crushing sense of sadness that Jensen felt it down to his very bones.

**ALL ALONE. ALL ALONE. ALL ALONE. ALL ALONE. ALL ALONE. ALL ALONE. ALL ALONE. ALL ALONE. ALL ALONE.**

The words were written, over and over again, on the mirrors until a loud bang rang out and the music cut off instantly. Jensen found himself flying into the mirrors; he just about had time to put his hand up, in front of his face, before he was smashed into the glass. When he pulled back, the room was silent, the temperature was back to normal and the writing was gone; the only change was one smashed mirror that distorted Jensen’s face as he looked into the cracked shards. 

‘ _Angry_ spirit then.’ Jensen muttered again. This time he received no answer. 

 


	46. Chapter Forty-Six.

 

** Chapter Forty-Six. **

  
** Jensen. **

  
Jensen was waiting for Misha to finish researching possible spirit candidates on the computer in Jim’s office. Jensen had given the other boy a few details from his encounter in the locker room; the bang had sounded a lot like a shot gun (Jensen knew his guns) and the music had sounded like it was being played on something old, not a CD player or an I-pod dock, maybe an LP player or something like that.

He peered over Misha’s shoulder to look at the screen. ‘What’ve you got?’

‘There aren’t actually that many people who’ve died here from gunshot wounds which is kind of surprising given Sunnnydale High’s shockingly high mortality rate; guess the demons always get us first.’ He huffed out a little laugh. ‘Well, I’ve got four people who died from gunshot injuries; Jimmy Terry died two years ago when a student opened fire on his Chemistry class, Miss Jean Calloway was shot in a bungled car robbery in 1994 on her way out of school, Pat Chester was shot in 1971 by an angry ex-boyfriend, and Dennis Carrey shot in the head himself in 1959.’

Jensen looked at the face of each of the victims and when he came to the last one, Dennis Carrey, Jensen just knew that it was him. The boy looked so sad and Jensen could still remember the feeling he’d gotten in the locker room, ‘I think it’s him.’ Jensen said, pointing at the screen. 

Jensen’s eyes scanned down the article about the kid’s death and everything he read confirmed his suspicions. ‘It looks like he shot himself in the locker room which would explain why his spirit’s trapped there. _Jesus_ , they didn’t find him for three days?’

‘No. It says that he shot himself during Prom and then, over the weekend, he was just…left there.’ Misha said, disgust clear in his voice.

‘What about his parents, his friends? Did no-one report him missing?’ Jensen asked, horrified; the thought made his stomach flop over uncomfortably. _Did no-one even notice that he was gone?_

‘His parents said that they thought he was working on some project at school. It says here that sometimes he came in to work with Mr. Gillieson at the weekends.’ Misha explained, his eyes glued to the screen.

‘Mr. Gillieson? Like _our_ Mr. Gillieson?’

‘Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised, the dude’s like 90.’ Misha answered.

‘75 actually.’ Jim said as he entered the room.

‘I’m gonna go talk to him, see if he remember this kid.’ Jensen said, grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair.

‘Why?’ Misha asked, finally looking up from the article, ‘It says here that he’s buried in Mercer Cemetery; all you need to do is dig him up and salt and burn him, right?’

Jensen didn’t have an answer for that; Misha was right. But there was just something that made Jensen want to know what had made the kid feel so unhappy. No-one should ever feel that alone, feel that desperate. He couldn’t really explain it, but those emotions weren’t exactly foreign to him and maybe he felt like he could identify with the kid, just a little. 

Not wanting to answer any more questions about it, Jensen hedged, ‘Yeah you’re right. I’ll get it done tonight, it’s not like I can go round digging up dead bodies in the middle of the day, I think that might be seen as weird.’

‘And illegal.’

‘And gross.’

‘Right. So we’re agreed, I’ll go out tonight and burn the bones, then we’re home free. Right now though I’ve gotta go and see Mrs. Clegg about my history final.’ Jensen had plans to see a teacher alright but it wasn’t Mrs. Clegg, it was the 75 year old man who taught Chemistry.

****

Jensen knocked on the lab room door, ‘Mr. Gillieson.’

The white haired old man was sat behind the desk, his hands folded on his stomach, as he leaned back asleep in his chair. Jensen coughed and repeated, ‘Mr Gillieson’ a little louder. The man jumped slightly and sat up in his chair, reaching for his glasses that were laying on the table top. 

‘Yes. Yes. Can I help you?’ He asked, peering at Jensen. 

‘Um…I’m Jensen and I just wanted to ask you if you, maybe, remembered a student who went to school here back in the 50s. His name was Dennis Carrey, did you know him?’

The man stared at Jensen for a moment before giving him a sad smile, ‘Yes, I knew Dennis. Bright boy, one of the best students I’ve ever taught.’

‘What was he like?’ Jensen asked, taking the seat opposite the teacher. 

‘Like?’ The man asked, a bushy white eyebrow raised in question. 

‘Yeah, I mean, I know he killed himself but what was he like in school? You know with his friends?’

‘Dennis didn’t have any friends. He was a lonely boy; the only time anyone paid any attention to him was to call him names or to beat the poor boy to a pulp.’ The man clenched his jaw and, for a second, Jensen saw anger flash in the man’s grey eyes, ‘And no-one ever did anything about it; the rich kids ruled the school back in those days. ’ _In those days?_ As if the jocks and the popular kids didn’t rule Sunnydale High now. ‘Dennis wasn’t a weirdo or a loser or any of the other cruel names that they called him. And he was just pushed aside, his problems were ignored and forgotten until one day, I suppose, he just couldn’t take the loneliness anymore.’

‘But what about his parents?’ Jensen questioned, still desperate to know how a 17 year old boy’s death could have been so easily overlooked.

The man snorted in contempt, ‘Those people weren’t parents; I only met them a couple of times, at fundraisers for the school, since they never bothered coming to Dennis’ parent-teacher evenings. I tried to tell them about Dennis’ potential, that he should go to college and you know what they said to me? His mother turned to me and said ‘Oh, does Dennis like science then?’ That kid _lived_ for science; he used to stay after school with me and talk me into doing all kinds of weird experiments that would have gotten me fired if anyone had found out about them but I was twenty-two, barely out of high school myself, so…’ He smiled fondly, ‘But for his parents to not even know that he was interested in that, I can’t even imagine what that boy’s life was like at home; he was a ghost at home and a shadow at school - no-one ever saw him for the brilliant person that he was.’

‘Except you.’ Jensen added quietly. The story was terribly sad in itself but for someone like Jensen, who was himself an outsider, a freak, and had suffered similar feelings of loneliness in his short life, it made his heart clench painfully. No-one should ever feel like they have no-one to care for them. Jensen had never been so glad for his friends, Jared and Jim than at that moment.

The man smiled again, the years falling from his face, ‘Yes, except me.’ 

‘Thank you for telling me about him.’ Jensen said rising from his seat. 

‘Why did you want to know, if you don’t mind my asking?’ The Chemistry teacher questioned, peering intently at Jensen. 

‘I came across an article about him and just wanted to know why he did, that’s all.’ Jensen answered. It was partly the truth; he _had_ wanted to know what had driven the boy to take his own life. ‘And I’m glad that I did; now there are two people that know what an amazing person he was.’ Jensen smiled, he liked that idea and, from the way the professor smiled back, he could tell that the other man liked it too. 

 


	47. Chapter Forty-Seven.

** Chapter Forty-Seven. **

  
** Jensen. **

‘It’s awful, you know. This kid felt so alone that he just couldn’t bear to live anymore. God, you should have felt it Jay; it felt like my heart was being crushed under the weight of his despair. And that was just an echo, an echo of everything he was feeling when he died.’ Jensen said, lowering his shovel again, several more times, before he hit the wooden top of the coffin. ‘He didn’t have anyone he could count on, no-one to love him, and to everyone around him, he was just a freak. That’s a hard life to live.’

Jensen slammed the shovel down onto clasp at the side of the coffin, satisfied when he heard the wood splinter. Reaching down, he flipped open the casket top, then jumped out of the grave. 

‘I know you think you’re a freak, Jensen, but you’re not like Dennis; you have people who love you and who you can count on.’ Jared replied, emptying a canister of salt onto the remains before dousing them in gasoline.

‘Yeah I know. It just makes me think. If I’d never met you and my friends and Jim, my life could have turned out so differently.’ Yeah, Jensen’s family loved him, but they didn’t get to see him, not all of him anyway, and Jensen’s not sure how he would’ve handled all of this alone; probably not all that much better than Dennis had. He lit the match, the flame lighting up his face for a moment in the dark, before dropping it into the grave.

Jared moved behind him, looping his arms around Jensen’s middle, ‘It’s lucky you did then, and none of us are going anywhere, Jensen.’ He kissed Jensen on the cheek as they watched the bones burn.

****

Jensen was sat Danneel’s bed, flicking through one of her brother’s motorcycle magazines; he’d found a whole new appreciation for the machines after seeing Jared on one. To be fair, he was really just looking at the pictures and imagining Jared pulling up in front of his house on the back of them, Jared pulling him up in front of him before speeding away, Jared pushing him back against the metal and...

Jensen was rudely snapped out of his Jared fantasy by a pillow to the face.

‘If you’re not going to help me then you might as well just go home, Jensen.’ Danneel accused, pointing a manicured finger at him. He still wasn’t entirely sure why he was there in the first place; it wasn’t like he was all that up on women’s fashions or had a girlfriend but, apparently, it had been him or Misha and since Jensen had a younger sister, and Misha didn’t, he’d ‘earned’ the privilege. 

Jensen ran a hand down his face but stopped abruptly when he looked at Danneel through his fingers. ‘Wow, you look fantastic.’ Danneel was dressed in a long blue strapless gown, the silk falling perfectly down her slender figure and trailing slightly behind her on the ground. Her hair hung down loose, slightly curled, and styled artfully around her face. ‘Chris is gonna go crazy when he sees you.’

She blushed slightly and smiled, ‘Thanks, Jen.’ She sat down, carefully, next to him on the bed, ‘You sure you’re not gonna come, I mean it’s Prom Jensen, you only get to do this once?’

‘Nah, it’s not really my kind of thing anyway.’ He said again, looking back down at the magazine and picking at the pages without really seeing them.

The doorbell rang, ‘That’ll be Chris,’ Jensen said and Danni got back off the bed, grabbed her bag and left the room with a soft, ‘See you later Jen.’

Jensen walked over to the window and looked down at the limo pulled up outside. Misha was leaning against the side of the car, Julie Niven on his arm, and Jensen watched as Chris tied the corsage around Danni’s wrist. He kissed her cheek and led her down to the car. Jensen wanted to be down there, he wanted to be there with Jared and his friends, doing something normal for once. 

Once the limo had driven off, Jensen climbed out the window and made his way to the graveyard; he was hunting alone that night since Jared was busy tracking down a rare book, or something, for Jim. Jensen was kind of glad actually; he didn’t need the constant reminder that he would rather have been in Sunnydale High’s sport’s hall, with the vampire, rather than in one of Sunnydale’s cemetery.

****

Two hours into his patrol, Jensen’s phone rang and he flipped it open, ‘Hello?’

‘Jen?’ Danni’s panicked voice came down the phone. 

‘Danni, what is it? Are you okay?’ Jensen asked urgently, already stowing his stake in his pants, ready to leave.

‘Yeah, I’m fine but something’s happening at Prom. About half an hour ago all the ceiling decorations fell down for no reason and injured a couple of cheerleaders, then all the punchbowls just sort of exploded and now stuff’s flying around everywhere.’ She was breathless like maybe she’d been ducking away from said stuff. Jensen groaned when he recognised the music that carried over the phone line – Blue Fucking Velvet. Shit.

Jensen was already running back to Sunnydale High when he asked, ‘Hey Danni, is that the band playing in the background?’

‘No it’s not; that song’s been playing on a loop since this all started. The band turned all their shit off so no-one knows where it’s coming from.’

Dennis. ‘Shit. I’m on my way; Dennis clearly isn’t as gone as I thought.’

‘Hurry, Jen. Things are getting hairy here.’ 

Jensen didn’t need telling twice, he flipped his phone shut and sprinted to the school. Who knew what Dennis had planned for the end of the night and considering how the boy’s own Prom had ended, it couldn’t be good.

****

Jensen ran to the sport’s hall, making a quit pit stop at the library to get what he needed. He walked through the double doors, his wide eyes taking in the carnage around him. Decorations lay strewn across the dance floor, there were several people lying unconscious on the ground, the refreshments table had been overturned and its contents scattered everywhere and people were desperately trying to get out but any time someone got near to the doors, they were thrown back across the hall. It was chaos. 

‘Jensen!’ Jim grabbed his arm. ‘I was in the library when I heard the screaming, it’s a spirit.’

‘I know, I think it’s Dennis.’ Jensen answered, resting the salt shot gun barrel on his shoulder. 

‘Dennis? Didn’t you burn the bones?’

‘I did, but there must be something of his still in the school.’ Jensen stated, scanning the room quickly.

There was a scream and Jensen turned his head to see a nearly translucent figure holding Lauren Cohen against the wall. Jensen aimed his shot gun and fired into the spirit’s back. ‘Go Jim, I’ll cover you. Whatever it is, it’s gotta be in the lab; check anything that might’ve belonged to him, anything that might’ve been around back in the ‘50s. I’ve got this.’ Jensen pumped the gun once, ready to take another shot when the ghost reappeared.

****

** Jim. **

Jim made it out the doors without being stopped; he had heard Jensen fire off two more shots as he’d run through them, obviously Dennis hadn’t wanted Jim to leave either. 

Jim made it to the lab and began to rifle through the equipment cupboards but everything he found was modern and high tech. He opened another cupboard. This looked more promising; stacks of chemistry textbooks littered the shelves. Jim removed all the new textbooks at the front, pushing them onto the floor, until he was left with a dozen or so tattered volumes. Looking at them, Jim could tell that they were old and, while he might only be using his job as the Sunnydale High librarian as a cover, he did know books. 

Jim picked up the first one, turned to the first page to see the publishing date- 1943. Bingo. He checked the inside cover of the book – ‘Doris Kensit’ was scrawled in the top right hand corner. He disregarded that one and the next two, Frank Gibson’s and Marty Harris’ books weren’t the ones he needed. 

Jim took the fourth book off the shelf and flicked open the cover. ‘Dennis Carrey’ was written in neat, block handwriting in the corner of a page that was stained a brown, pinkish colour. Jim could only guess that the boy had had the book with him when he shot himself and somehow some of his blood had seeped into the pages. It was sadly apt that, even in his worst moment when he desperately needed someone to come and save him, the boy was still left with his only companion – his Chemistry book. Jim took out his lighter and set the flame to the pages. 

****

** Jensen. **

Jensen pointed the shot gun upwards at the spirit, pinning him to the floor, but just before he pulled the trigger, a red flame licked through the ghost’s body and it disintegrated to ashes on top of him, showering him with the dirty flakes. 

He stood up, wiping a hand across his sweaty forehead and probably smearing more dirt across his face. Jensen let the shotgun fall to his side and took a look around the half demolished gymnasium. The scene was disturbingly familiar. Every eye in the hall was on him, some of them flickering nervously to the shotgun in his hand, and Jensen blushed under the soot covering his cheeks. He raised his hand up in a little half wave, ‘Um…hi?’

When no-one said anything but continued to gape at him, Jensen slowly backed out of the gymnasium, keeping his free hand raised and his gun pointed at the ground; he really didn’t want to get arrested for possession of a firearm. Once his back hit the door, Jensen turned around and ran out of the school. 

See, he knew that he shouldn’t have gone to Prom.

 


	48. Chapter Forty-Eight.

** Chapter Forty-Eight. **

  
** Jensen. **

  
Jensen didn’t stop running till he made it back to the graveyard, God, how pathetic was it that this was where he felt safe, where he felt at home, where he felt normal? 

He bent over, throwing down the shotgun and holding the stitch in his side, trying desperately to get enough air into his lungs. Christ, it was just like before; they’d looked at him like he was a freak, like he didn’t belong in their perfect little world, like he was _tainting_ it just by being there. He collapsed down onto the wet grass, ignoring the dampness seeping through his jeans. 

A hand on his shoulder startled him but before Jensen could reach his stake or his shotgun, he was being turned around. 

And there stood Jared…in a tux, smiling down at him with warm hazel eyes. The taller man reached a down hand towards Jensen, who took it, and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘A little birdie told me that it was your Prom tonight.’ A little birdie named Danneel, no doubt, ‘And I didn’t see why you shouldn’t get a Prom just like everybody else.’ He placed a chaste kiss on Jensen’s lips. 

Jensen blushed, the reminder of earlier prompted him to look down at himself – he was mess, covered in soot and ash, and there was a rip at the knee of his jeans and Jared…he just looked perfect. ‘I’m a mess and you look amaz…’

‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful in my life.’ Jared interrupted, leaning down to kiss Jensen again, more deeply this time. Jensen opened up and allowed Jared to lick into his mouth, relishing the feel of Jared’s body pressed against his own. ‘Would you dance with me, Jensen?’ Before Jensen could reply, a faint melody began to play. Jensen looked over Jared’s shoulder at the I-pod and speakers on the ground and then at the remote in Jared’s hand. 

‘You know, this is much easier than it would’ve been when I was young. Back then, I would’ve had to play a lute and sing to you; this way, my hands and mouth can be much more enjoyably occupied.’ As if to prove his point, Jared let his hands drop down to Jensen’s ass and gave it a firm squeeze. He chuckled at Jensen’s yelp, and slotted their bodies closer together. He took Jensen’s hands and placed them on his shoulders and placed his own large hands on Jensen’s waist. 

It was so damn perfect that Jensen didn’t know what to say. He might never be normal but if being a freak got him this, then maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. ‘Jared…I don’t…this is…’

‘Just enjoy it Jen, you might think you don’t deserve all this but you do. I’m going to spend the rest of our lives making sure that you realise just how special you are.’ Jensen shook his head in quiet disbelief before resting it against Jared’s shoulder. They swayed together in the middle of the graveyard, to the music streaming from Jared’s I-pod, for a long time after that, lost in each other. 

When the playlist finally came to an end, Jensen looked up and pulled Jared down into a kiss. ‘Jared I want you. Right here.’ He whispered, trying not to blush as the older man stared down at him. 

A sly smile crept over Jared’s face, ‘Here Jen? In the graveyard?’ Jensen would have been worried that he’d made a huge mistake, that Jared would thing he was a creep for even suggesting it, if he hadn’t been able to feel Jared’s hard cock pressing into his stomach. Clearly, the vampire wasn’t all that opposed to the idea either.

‘It’s sort of fitting don’t you think?’ Jensen answered. It was really; the graveyard was such an integral part of Jensen’s life that the idea didn’t seem all that out there when he thought about it. 

Jared smiled darkly and backed Jensen up against one of the mausoleum walls, ‘Is that what you want Jensen?’ His hands travelled down Jensen’s back to rest on his ass again, ‘Want me to take you right here, against this wall, where anyone could see us?’ Jared leaned down and nipped at the side of Jensen’s neck. 

Jensen let his head drop back, a murmured, ‘Yes’ falling from his lips. He gasped when he felt Jared grab his thighs and hoist him up, his back hitting the wall. He instantly wrapped his legs around Jared’s waist and his arms around the man’s shoulders, letting his fingers tangle in Jared’s styled hair. 

It was so incredibly sexy that Jared could hold him up against the stone, one handed, as the vampire worked his other hand between them to undo Jensen’s jeans. Jensen’s brain decided to get with the programme, once he heard his zipper being dragged down, and he grabbed his t-shirt and pulled it over his head. Dropping the shirt on the floor, he set about helping Jared pull his pants and boxers down, letting his hard cock spring free. 

Jensen’s eyes flickered over Jared’s shoulder for a second; anyone could come along and find them there, and _damn_ if that just didn’t make it hotter. His hands flew back to Jared’s shoulders as he felt a finger push at his entrance; it was lubed and Jensen wondered just how out of it he was if he hadn’t even noticed Jared slicking up his fingers. His breath hitched and he pushed down on the finger encouraging Jared forward; it burned but it was nothing compared to the burning need he had for Jared to take him up against that wall. ‘Come on Jared, I can take it…give me another one.’

Jared chuckled and licked a line up Jensen’s neck while sliding a second finger in beside the first. Since both of Jared’s hands were busy, Jensen brought his own hand down to circle his erection, using the precome at the tip to smooth the way, as he pumped it in time with Jared’s fingers. He cried out when Jared bit down on his neck, not hard enough to break the skin, but enough to still Jensen’s movements. 

‘None of that, Jen, that’s for me.’ Jared ordered darkly and Jensen couldn’t help the shudder that ran through his body at the vampire’s tone. 

Once Jared was able to pump three fingers into Jensen’s ass easily, brushing against Jensen’s prostate every few strokes and sending bolts of pleasure zinging through the Slayer’s body, Jensen was rocking down onto Jared’s hand, pleading with his body for Jared to just take what he wanted. His head was still resting back against the cool marble as he fought to get himself under control and not shoot as soon as Jared got in him. 

Distantly, Jensen heard the sound of a zipper being drawn down and he held his breath as he felt something blunt at his entrance. He let it out as soon as he felt Jared push forwards in one easily slide until he was buried to the hilt inside Jensen. Jared stayed still, kissing up Jensen’s bared neck, as Jensen blinked back the tears; it was always going to hurt, that first slide, Jared was fucking huge. 

After a long moment, Jensen shifted, ‘It’s okay, you can…you can move. _Please…_ Jared, move.’ And Jared did, pulling back and thrusting back into Jensen hard, sending Jensen’s body slamming back against the wall. Each snap of Jared’s hips punched a gasp out of Jensen as Jared hit his prostate. ‘Jay…’ He panted, his eyes still closed as he gripped Jared tightly. Jared’s thrusts sped up, his grunts and Jensen’s gasps echoing through the quiet of the graveyard. 

Finally, one particularly hard thrust, dead on Jensen’s prostate, had the Slayer crying out the vampire’s name and coming between them. Jensen let his head fall forwards onto Jared’s shoulder, as the vampire continued to thrust into him, until a few moments later when Jensen felt Jared come too, his seed painting the inside of Jensen’s ass. 

‘Christ, Jensen.’ Jared breathed, kissing Jensen’s temple, and rubbing soothing circles on the skin of Jensen’s thighs where he still held him up against the wall. When Jensen had recovered enough to be able to lift his head, he looked up at Jared and smiled lazily. ‘Sorry, I think I ruined your tux.’ He said, even though he wasn’t actually feeling all that sorry about it. Jensen glanced at the come covered front of Jared’s jacket and shirt, only then realising that Jared was still dressed whereas Jensen was almost completely naked against the crypt wall. That should really not have been as hot as it was; his dick gave a feeble twitch and he groaned. 

Jared clearly saw and laughed, nosing at Jensen’s cheek, before capturing his lips in a kiss. After several long minutes of kissing, Jared finally pulled out despite Jensen’s disappointed groan; he was perfectly happy staying like that forever, although that was _probably_ a little unwise in the middle of the graveyard. 

Jared put Jensen back down on his feet and helped him pull up his jeans. When Jensen had zipped done up, he looked over at Jared, and cheekily asked, ‘You played the lute?’

Jared just threw Jensen’s shirt in his face by way of answer.

****

Jensen was nervous about going into school the day after Prom, not knowing what people would say or if anyone would even look at him after he’d basically outed himself as a crazy freak to the whole class – a crazy freak who liked guns and that was enough to make any American student nervous. 

So he waited until he knew that everyone would already be in class, yeah, he’d get a tardy but at least he wouldn’t have to meet anyone in the corridors. He planned to just sneak into the back of the class and hope that no-one paid him any attention. 

Jensen opened his locker and blinked in surprise when he saw something in there that wasn’t his. It was a yearbook - Jensen hadn’t gotten round to picking one up yet; he hadn’t really seen the point of getting one that he wasn’t even in and that only three people who would sign with something other than ‘Have a nice Summer.’

He pulled the book from his locker, curious, and opened it. On the inside cover was written. 

**THANKS JENSEN - FROM THE CLASS OF 2012.**

Jensen’s breath caught in his throat as he saw about 200 names written around the page.

Maybe, he wasn’t such a nobody after all. 

 


	49. Chapter Forty-Nine.

** Chapter Forty-Nine. **

** Jensen. **

Jensen couldn’t quite believe it. He and his friends had actually made it to Graduation; he actually felt kind of proud that their class had the lowest mortality rate in Sunnydale High history. He liked to think that he and his friends had played a role in that. Along with a grumpy librarian and a strangely moral vampire.

They were sat in rows, dressed in hideous maroon robes, waiting to be called up to accept their diplomas. Jensen’s mom and sister were in the audience, no doubt with a camera to catch Jensen if he managed to fall over the bottom of his robe like he had done at home. Three damn times. Jared was out there to, hidden somewhere in the shadows; he’d promised Jensen that he wouldn’t miss it and Jensen felt a happy flush rise to his cheeks. It would’ve been nice to introduce Jared to his mom but some things just weren’t meant to be and sometimes you just had to take the bad with the good and Jared was very, very good. 

Jensen’s head snapped up when his Headmaster, Mr. Bigg (most ironic name ever since the bald headed man was barely 5 foot 4 and that was being generous; the guy must have had a tough childhood), began his speech. Jensen’s name would be called first, one of the few advantages of having an ‘A’ surname, so at least he’d get the worst part over nice and quickly; he wasn’t a huge fan of the whole parading across the stage in front everyone. Especially not when it was highly likely that he was going to fall flat on his face.

‘Ackles, Je…’ Just as Jensen stood up, the world began to darken and Jensen looked up. Slowly, the sun was eaten away until nothing was left but a dark black circle, casting the world into night. 

‘You have got to be fucking kidding me.’ Jensen mumbled under his breath. Couldn’t he have just one day? One _normal_ day? His question was answered by an almighty ripping sound vibrating through the air. Jensen watched as the ground was, literally, torn apart to reveal a huge hole brimming with fire and spewing noxious black smoke. It was only when the smoke started to invade his fellow students, and cause them to attack him and each other, that Jensen realised where the hole lead to. Hell. 

Fuck it.

Jensen yanked off his robe, pulling out his stake, his bottle of holy water and the blade from his ankle and set about exorcising his classmates. Misha, Danneel and Chris moved to do the same and somewhere off in the distance, Jensen was sure that Jared was helping too. 

Jensen had just caught Jimmy Tanner, before the kid hit the ground, as the smoke whirled out of his mouth and left him limp as a noodle, when a growl sounded from behind him. 

Jensen turned and looked up…and up. Jesus, the motherfucker was huge. A claw swiped Jensen’s legs out from under him and Jensen landed hard on his back. As he tried to catch his breath, he watched the remaining possessed students fix their black eyes on the demon, and bow, clearly awaiting orders. So no prizes for guessing who the leader of this band of demons was. Behind the demon, the hole in the ground widened and more demons spewed forth from the Underworld. 

‘Jensen.’ Jim called from his left as Jensen struggled to his feet, ‘It’s opened Hell, you need to get that demon back into the hole to close the gap.’ Well that sounded real easy; getting six foot one million of demon to go where it didn’t want to go. Awesome. 

Jensen back-flipped away then landed a round house kick to the demon’s flank but it didn’t move even an inch closer to the hole. Right, so force wasn’t gonna work. Jensen ran around the back of the demon and watched as its keen black eyes tracked his movements. It lumbered after him but was unable to catch him, so Jensen ran away from the demons and students, drawing the demon away from the innocents. Unfortunately, though, whenever the demon did manage to land a hit, it always sent Jensen to the ground. Jensen was outmatched in size and strength and had no idea how he was going to force the demon back into the hole. 

Jensen was gasping from a hard punch to his solar plexus, cradling his chest, when he saw the demon reach down to pick up one of his classmates. Jensen jumped to his feet, pulling in a lungful of air and shouted, ‘Hey asshole. How about you pick on someone your own size?’ Technically that wouldn’t include Jensen since the demon was freaking massive, but Jensen felt he’d made his point. 

It worked anyway and the demon turned and  barrelled towards him. As it neared, Jensen realised with disturbing clarity that there was only one way that he was getting that huge demon back in the hole. Taking a deep, calming breath, Jensen moved into position. When the demon came close enough, Jensen reached out his arm, got a firm grip on one of the demon’s horns and then…leapt into the hole. 

SHIT! 

It was like fire was melting Jensen’s skin off and licking at the muscle and nerves underneath. Jensen screamed as they continued to fall until his body hit the rocky ground. His brain was screaming, or was it just the cries of agony in the pit? Jensen didn’t know. Jensen had known pain in his life, had been an intimate friend of it over the past few years, but this was beyond anything that he’d ever felt; he could feel his mind trying desperately to cling on to sanity. 

Jensen felt like clawing his own skin off; that would be  preferable to the searing agony that was attacking his body right then. His eyes rolled back in his head as his muscles spasmed and locked, pulling taut, almost to the point of breaking like at any moment they could snap. His bones creaked and shifted, under his skin, bending slightly before springing back into place, each time coming closer to breaking. It was pure torture. 

Dreadful images flashed before Jensen’s eyes, a thousand times more horrifying than anything he’d ever seen in his nightmares; people being torn to shreds, their blood running into rivers of red, demons flaying the skin off their victims’ backs as they cranked up the rack, people trapped down here with no chance or hope of escape – it was terrible. 

And Jensen screamed, adding to the  cacophony that was already Hell’s gruesome soundtrack.

Jensen didn’t know how long he stayed there, writhing on the floor, but after what felt like a hundred years of torment, he managed to pry his eyes open long enough to see the demon lying close by, impaled on a long spike driven up through its core. Demons had gathered around its body and were ripping away pieces of flesh; Jensen shuddered and turned away. 

The sight was enough to get Jensen moving, though; as much as his body was in agony, Jensen was damn sure that being eaten alive by rabid demons would feel even worse. Jensen swallowed thickly and looked up, he could still see his world through the hole in the earth but, as he watched, he saw that the gap was slowly shrinking, shutting him in Hell, and away from his life and his friends forever. 

Somehow Jensen managed to force himself to his feet; he limped over to the sheer rock face and placed his hands on the wall. It was hot, so hot that it burned and blistered his palms where they touched the rock but he didn’t let go. Slowly, Jensen began to scale the wall, coming closer and closer to the exit; it was going to be close. Pain and nausea were clouding Jensen’s vision and he wasn’t sure that he was going to make it out before that hole closed and shut him in Hell for good. 

No, he would. He would make it out of there. 

Finally… _finally_ , Jensen reached the edge. He stretched an arm through the gap and felt damp grass under his scorched fingertips. He gripped the blades hard and heaved, letting out a cry of pain as he hauled himself out, then rolled onto his back on the grass. Jensen was breathing hard and his hands and knees ached where they’d been burned but the overwhelming, all-encompassing pain was receding and he relished the feel of the cold grass against his feverish skin.

 


	50. Chapter Fifty.

** Chapter Fifty. **

** Jensen. **

Long minutes passed before Jensen registered that there were no sounds around him; no fighting, no talking, nothing. The eclipse still hadn’t passed even though the tear in the ground had mended. With an effort, Jensen sat up, supporting himself on his elbows and looked around. His mouth dropped open in shock when he saw everyone, every last person, lying on the ground, unconscious.

The utter silence was eerie.

Suddenly, a bright, blinding light appeared in front of Jensen and he brought up his hand to shield his eyes, ‘What the Hell?’ He muttered, raising his stake in some hope of defending himself.

In front of him stood a beautiful woman, dressed in a long, white robe. She had a kind and gentle face as she smiled down at him. 'Quite the opposite, actually, Jensen.’

Jensen’s heart stuttered to a stop in his chest; there was just no way. ‘You’re…are you an _angel_?’ He asked half in awe, half in disbelief; angels weren’t real. Right?

‘Yes, I am an angel. And I have been sent down to earth to find you. Jensen you saved the world today; that demon would have laid waste to your world and then begun on ours. You have fought tirelessly for years, made countless sacrifices for others, and this has not gone unnoticed. I have been sent to offer you a reward. For risking your life and saving ours, I will grant you anything you desire.' She replied, her blue eyes locked with his.

_Huh?_ 'What? But…but I was just doing my job, I _have_ to do this, I didn’t do it to get anything back.' Jensen argued, completely at a loss as to what was happening. He’d tried to leave Slaying behind but he hadn't been able to; he couldn't imagine that anyone would be able to turn their backs on such a duty - there was only one Slayer after all.

  
'You are wrong, Jensen. Many before you _have_ refused the call in favour of living their own lives in safety, heedless of the unbalance that they were causing between good and evil. You did not and this is your reward - if you wish, we can pass your responsibility onto the next Slayer and they will be called in your place. You will be able to live a long life without fear of the Supernatural following you. We will simply erase you from our world.'

Jensen gaped at the beautiful woman; Jensen wanted that _so_ badly, had wanted it since that very first day when he’d seen that vampire turn to dust in the graveyard. He’d wanted someone to take it all away, make it all a dream. And now he could have that; there would be no guilt as there would be another Slayer to take his place. Clearly, God himself felt that Jensen had done enough for the world and that he could leave all this behind with no regrets.

But then Jensen remembered whispered words, said in the hush of night for his ears only, words that were so much more important than anything Jensen could ever have wanted:

  
_I wish I was human then I’d give you the world, Jensen._

'Jared? Can you make him mortal?'

'The vampire?'

'Yes, can you do it?' Jensen asked again, hoping that he was making the right decision; his heart told him that he was.

‘I can. Is that truly what you want, you will not be offered this chance again?' She asked, no judgement present in her lyrical voice.

'Yes, that’s what I want.' Jensen answered. ‘Wait! Can you leave him with his strength?’ Jared would never forgive Jensen if the Slayer took away his ability to atone for the sins he’d committed since becoming a vampire. Jared might desperately have wanted to be human, but his duty to make up for his past was more important to him than even that. 

  
She smiled again, ‘It is done.' A second later, the shimmering woman was gone and Jensen was left alone in the grounds of his school, dazed, and wondering if that had really just happened.

  
****

As Jensen walked across the grass to find his friends, he noticed his classmates and their guests were beginning to wake up. The sun had been unmasked as soon as the angel had disappeared and the school was, once again, bathed in glorious sunlight. It looked like the fight hadn’t happened at all. 

Jensen’s head was pounding but his hands and knees were all but healed of the burns he’d suffered below. Clearly, the angel had given him more than just a wish before departing. He found Jared and his friends lying on the grass and starting to stir awake, obviously Jensen was the only one meant to see the apparition. 

  
Jensen knelt down next to his lover and watched the faint colour rise to Jared’s cheeks. He smiled when he saw Jared’s chest rise and fall; no longer in a crude mockery of breathing but with actual, life-sustaining breaths. Jensen placed a hand over the man's heart and felt its strong beat beneath his hand.

Jared frowned for a moment before opening his eyes and drawing in a surprised breath. 'What the…?'

  
'Hey.' Jensen said quietly. 'Um…I've kind of got something to tell...'

'I'm human. How am I human?’ Jared interrupted, levelling shocked eyes on Jensen. ‘What did you do Jensen?' Jared demanded, his tone dangerous.

'Nothing bad, I didn't make any deals or anything.' Jared looked at him suspiciously before nodding for Jensen to continue. 'You're happy though right, you wanted to be mortal again?' For an instant, despite all the conversations they'd had on the subject, Jensen feared that he might have done something that Jared didn't want, something wrong. 

'I am.' Jared said simply, sitting up and placing his own hand over his heart and closing his eyes, clearly wanting to feel the rhythm as much as Jensen had. 'But how is this possible?'

  
'There was this woman, I...I think she was an angel, Jay, she just sort of shone. She said that I’d earned a reward for serving my duty, anything I wanted, and I asked for this.' He shrugged looking away, hoping that he’d done the right thing.

'Jensen,' Jensen felt his face brought back to Jared's, kind eyes looking into his uncertain ones, 'You could have asked for anything; you could have gotten away from all this. Why did you ask for this?'

'Because I knew you wanted it, and that's more important to me than anything else, and because...because...I love you.' Jensen blushed but held Jared's gaze.

  
'I love you too, baby.' Jared drew Jensen into his arms and held him tightly. ‘But what about Slaying, I can’t help you if I’m mortal.’ Jared said, sadness and regret creeping into his tone. 

Jensen pulled back, grabbed a pebble from the ground and dropped it into Jared’s hand, ‘Squeeze this.’ Jared frowned but clenched his hand into a fist all the same. When he opened his hand again, there was only dust left in his palm. He looked up at Jensen, stunned. ‘I asked her to leave you your strength so that you could still hunt with me, if you still wanted to.’ Jensen smiled, a little uncertain. 

Jared grinned and dusted his hand off on his thigh, ‘Good, you need someone to watch that cute little ass of yours.’ Jared’s face turned serious then, 'Thank you so much for giving me this, for giving me everything. I don't know what I did to deserve you but I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure that you never regret choosing me.’

‘I could never regret it, Jay, there was never anyone else for me but you.’ Jensen kissed his lover, safe in the knowledge that they could get through anything, as long as they had each other. 

 

THE END.

Hope you enjoyed this!! Thanks for reading!!

xxxx

 


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